A New World
by Racing Capybaras
Summary: The five time travelers return to Eureka to find that things aren't quite as they left them.
1. Chapter 1

**I've had the idea for this story for a few weeks now, but school has gotten in the way of writing. AP History is a massive time suck. Anyway, I've already written the first few chapters. In my opinion, this one kind of sucks, but I couldn't find a way to make it better, and I really want to move forward with posting the rest of the story. So, here it is.**

**Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything other than this story. Believe me, if I did, Eureka would be on year-round, not just during the summer.**

* * *

The Return

"So, we're back. Just like that?"

Carter shivered as he tried to shake off the confused feeling that accompanied time travel. On either side of him, he saw Allison and Fargo doing the same. Across from him, so were Jo and Henry.

The five of them were standing in a perpetually vacant lab at GD that was closed off by security in case someone ever needed it. Allison and Fargo had picked the spot. It was the only place they could appear without tripping alarms or having to walk miles back into a town that they couldn't be completely sure was theirs.

Henry nodded slowly and let a small smile break across his face. "Yeah. Just like that. I think."

"You think?" Allison asked tensely. "I think knowing might be nice."

Carter winced out of sympathy for both Allison and Henry. Allison hadn't taken it well when Henry told her that he and Grant had found away to return the six of them to their proper timelines. She didn't want to leave the new Kevin, the one who hugged and talked to her. But in the end, even she had to agree that everyone returning to their timeline was best for both realities, if not for them personally.

But it was hard on Henry too. He had finally won Grace over, and then had to tell her that they were leaving. And he had spent months trying to figure out away to get them back to their Founder's Day.

"I'm pretty sure," Fargo said from next to the door. He leaned forward and let the lock scan his irises. Nothing happened. "It says that the lab has to be opened by the Director of Global Dynamics, who apparently isn't me anymore."

Allison quickly strode forward and let the lock perform the scan. There was a quiet beep, then the door slid open.

Carter let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. They were back.

"Just because Allison's the Director again doesn't mean that everything is the same." Jo pointed out as they left the lab. "Henry, you said earlier that traveling to another timeline and going backwards in time was near impossible."

"Well, to my knowledge, no one has ever done it before," Henry admitted.

"So," Carter said slowly, "this is the timeline we came from, but things may not be exactly the way they were before?"

Henry nodded again. "It's hard to say, since it's never been done. But, there will most likely be a few changes, though much more minor than they were before."

"We can only hope." Carter said. He was not looking forward to the possibility of returning to SARAH, only to have to find Tess there and break up with her for the third time.

"Here's something different." Fargo called from the front off the group as he reached the deserted rotunda. "All the lights are off. It must be the middle of the night. We left in the afternoon."

"Like I said, it's never been done before." Henry repeated. "Before, we just went back in time. Then we traveled _forward,_ in that same timeline. The future changed because we affected the past. But jumping back in time _and_ to a different reality is completely different. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen."

"You mean we have different jobs or be homeless or be some crackpot who goes around claiming to have been abducted by aliens?" Fargo demanded.

Henry shrugged. "Could be."

Carter took a deep breath. So much for everything being the way they left it.

And Fargo's hyperventilating wasn't helping.

Jo shook her head and grabbed Fargo by the shoulders. "Fargo, you need to calm down. If you keep whimpering like that, one of the night guards will hear us. If they use the shifts I assigned in the other timeline, one of them will be passing by in a few minutes. Getting caught by them means a lot of questions and an investigation that could get all of us fired and removed from Eureka."

Fargo nodded and attempted to calm down.

"Okay, we need a plan." Carter said. "We need to find out as much information as possible about this world _before_ we leave the building or get caught. That should save us from the more nasty surprises."

"No," Allison argued, "we need to get home. I have to check on Kevin and Jenna. I have to know that they're both alright."

"You can't" Jo replied. She ignored Allison's scathing glare and continued on. "If any of us leave the building now, we'll run into security for sure. We have to stay here until morning."

"So back to what I said. We need to learn as much as possible."

"We can use my office," Allison sighed as she accepted the logic. "If I'm Director, I should have access to all of your files."

Henry glanced at her, then down the corridor where they could hear a guard coming. "We'd better get in there fast then."

* * *

Three hours later, they were all relatively relieved to find that they seemed much the way they had in their original timeline. Under the guard of the static protocol, they had safely found and read through all of their files.

Henry was still a bachelor and never seemed to have had any contact with Grace Monroe. Fargo was just an assistant, and as accident prone as he had always been. Jo was still Carter's deputy and her house was still standing. Allison was the Director of GD and lived alone with her two children. Carter was still single and living alone in SARAH.

They had all taken the news hard. Henry had lost his wife and Fargo had been demoted. Allison had less time to spend with her kids and Carter seemed to be as alone as ever.

Jo was the only one who managed to find a bright spot. Even though she had a less prestigious job, from the arrest records they had dug up, Zane hadn't been in jail for years. She could only hope that that still meant that they were together. She sat quietly on the corner of the couch, playing with the engagement ring on the chain around her neck.

Carter sat next to Allison on the floor, holding her hands. She was waiting to get home to see her kids. If something had happened to either of them, it would devastate her.

Henry sat next to Jo on the couch, absently threading his fingers together.

Fargo fidgeted in his chair as he saw some of the early morning maintenance workers entering the rotunda. He was almost afraid to break the silence, but eventually said, "I think it's safe for us to go now."

Allison jumped up and pulled her coat on. The others followed suit.

"Hey," Carter said before anyone passed the threshold, "let's meet at Café Diem tonight. Nine o' clock, same table as last time?"

"Yeah, sure, just like last time," Jo said as she walked out the door. "Only, hopefully this time it won't suck as much."

* * *

**So, what did you think? Personally, I think that it gets a lot better after this, but I'm kind of biased. Feel free to correct any grammatical errors in a review. I have a tendency to forget how to write over the summer, so any and all feedback is really helpful.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm trying out a new way to set up a story, so the next few chapters jump around a little time/event wise. This chapter deals with the characters' lives after returning to their Eureka...with a twist.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own them. I just like to play with them.**

* * *

Carter drove down the street slowly, steering with his left hand. His right hand was locked in a vice-like grip by Allison, who was sitting in the front seat. Carter glanced at her sympathetically. Though she hadn't said anything since they left Global, he knew that she was terrified to see if her children had changed.

He pulled into Allison's driveway and turned the car off. She didn't move to get out of the car.

After a few minutes of silence, Carter decided that he needed to interfere. "You want me to come with you?" He probed gently.

Allison shook her head. "I- I think that I need to do this alone."

"Okay," Carter replied reluctantly. He was almost as anxious to find out about the kids as Allison was. "But call me if you need anything."

"It's still early," Allison said as she pushed the car door open, "so Kevin and Jenna should still be asleep."

Carter nodded, but didn't move to start the car.

"Why don't you go home and check how things are there." Allison continued, walking around the car to lean into the window on Carter's side. "Ask SARAH to help you check up on town gossip and call Zoe at Harvard. It's a three hour time difference, so she should be up by now."

"Yeah," Carter replied, angry at himself for forgetting about Zoe. "I think I will."

Allison smiled softly and placed a hand on Carter's shoulder. "Good luck."

Carter nodded again and placed a hand over Allison's and gave it a squeeze. "Good luck to you, too."

* * *

The door to the bunker slid open with a slight hiss. Carter stepped through, staying alert for any changes. Last time he had done this, he was greeted by Tess, and they had still been dating. He didn't want to have to break up with her for a third time.

"Good morning, Sheriff Carter. You're certainly getting home late. I was beginning to worry."

Carter sighed in relief as he walked into his living room. It was just SARAH. He flopped down onto the couch. "Yeah, I guess so. I was a little worried too."

"You didn't call to say that you weren't coming home. Was there another incident at Global? "

Carter unbuttoned his uniform shirt as he searched for a plausible explanation for getting home at five o' clock in the morning. "It's complicated," he finally said as he finished unbuttoning his shirt.

"My internal data processor has more than enough power to understand," SARAH pressed.

Carter sighed and shook his head. "Not now, SARAH. I need a beer first," he replied, tossing his shirt in the direction of the laundry pile and walking into the kitchen.

"It is too early for alcohol, Sheriff," SARAH protested. "And beer will not solve your problems."

"Just trust me on this, SARAH," Carter said. If he was going to get through another first day in a new timeline, he needed beer. "Now, please, give me the beer. Oh, and give Zoe a call at Harvard."

"If you insist."

Carter almost missed the subtle tone of disapproval and anger. Even if he had missed that, there was no way to miss that SARAH seemed to have purposefully managed to pour him beer without foam on top. Carter rolled his eyes. It was too early to argue with SARAH. Besides, he had more important things to do .

He walked back to the couch and sat down. Allison would be calling him in a matter of hours. He just had to sit tight until then.

"Zoe has accepted your call."

Carter grinned into his beer and set it down on the table as Zoe's face came into view on the table in front of him.

"_Hey, dad. I was just about to take a shower. Isn't it a little early for beer over there?"_

Carter shook his head. "There is no time too early for beer," he replied, relaxing into the couch. "So how are you?"

"_I'm fine,"_ Zoe replied brightly. _"Just cramming for exams. I should be home in a few weeks."_

"We should book a flight for you," Carter nodded, taking another sip of his beer. As far as he could tell, his life was just as it was supposed to be.

* * *

Henry sat alone in his garage, absently staring at his toolkit. He had already been home, only to find that he was, indeed, still a bachelor. After searching through some of his personal records, the only thing he could find linking him to Grace was the car she had brought to him to fix in time for Founder's Day.

"Hi."

Henry looked up. Fargo was standing in the doorway, holding up a brown paper bag.

"I came to see if you needed anything," the young scientist continued. When Henry didn't reply, he continued. "Because, you know, that's what I do in this Eureka."

Henry forced himself to smile. This wasn't easy for Fargo, either. "Thanks."

Fargo sat down across from Henry on a work bench. "So," he said, after an uncomfortable silence, "what have you found out?"

"Just what my file at GD said," Henry replied bitterly. "I've been alone since Kim died in the Artifact accident. The only contact I've ever had with Grace is through her antique car."

"Oh," Fargo said softly, playing with the brown paper bag.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Henry gazing into the distance while Fargo fidgeted uncomfortably with his the bag. Eventually, Henry broke the silence just to make the other man feel more comfortable.

"So, what's in the bag?"

Fargo grinned and opened the bag. "It's a sympathy breakfast. Vincent isn't the only one who can cook in Eureka. I make a mean blueberry muffin."

"Well, thanks," Henry replied, reaching for a muffin. "I guess I could use some sympathy right now. When did you have time to make these, anyway?"

Fargo shrugged. "Well, everything at my house was exactly the same as before. Including the massive list of things I'm supposed to take care of for GD. I wasn't ready to go back to that yet, and I didn't really have anything else to do."

"Mmumph," Henry nodded, his mouth full. He swallowed and continued, "Well, I'm glad that you chose to do this. These are amazing."

"I told you I could cook."

Henry nodded again and took another bite. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Not sure. I have today off because of Founder's Day, but I was kind of hoping that I could hang out here until the festivities start."

"Sure," Henry replied, dusting crumbs off his fingers, "I could use the company. And thanks for the breakfast."

"Anytime," Fargo said, sliding off the workbench and standing up. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, I have to finish the car for Grace, then give my Founder's Day speech in town," Henry answered. "And then the five of us are meeting at Café Diem tonight."

"If we work together, we can probably get the car done in a few hours," Fargo said.

"Let's get started. Why don't you pop the hood while I get my other tools out of the back."

"Okay," Fargo agreed, watching as Henry disappeared into the depths of his garage. He looked around, trying to figure out where Henry had parked the car. "Hey, Henry," Fargo called, "where's the car?"

"It should be around the corner out front."

Fargo walked outside and peered around the corner. "Are you sure that's where you left it?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Henry replied, the clanking of his tools signaling his approach. "That's the only place in the garage safe enough for a car that old."

"Well, it's definitely not there."

"It has to be. I was still working on it the morning that we left."

"Henry," Fargo said quietly, "what's today's date?"

"It's Founder's Day," Henry replied, looking at questioningly at Fargo. "March 13th. Isn't it?" He trailed off.

"Apparently not," Fargo replied, pointing at the calendar behind Henry. "Look at that."

Henry slowly turned around and followed the direction Fargo was pointing the calendar behind him. Every day of the month was crossed off, up to the 23rd.

"So I was off a few days," Henry replied to Fargo, trying to shake off the sudden crushing sense of foreboding. "That explains why I don't have Grace's car anymore. But it's still pretty good for a kind of time travel that's never been done before."

"Henry," Fargo said slowly, still gazing at the calendar, "That calendar says today is the 23rd of April, not March. You weren't off a few days. You were off by over a month."

* * *

**What did you think? Were there any spelling or grammatical errors? Leave any suggestions/comments in a review.**


	3. Chapter 3

Jo rushed through town, searching for Zane. She had decided against calling him, wanting to see him person. She had been waiting to see Zane for months. Not just any Zane. _Her_ Zane.

She pushed open the doors to the Sheriff's Office and cautiously peered inside. She didn't want to disturb Zane if he was already in there, preparing to propose to her. That would ruin it for him, which was the last thing she wanted to do.

She poked her head through the door. All the lights were off and there was no one inside. Jo sighed and slowly walked over to her old desk, the one that recently she had begun thinking of as Andy's. She hadn't realized how much and how little she had missed the office. She loved working with Carter, and had missed doing so in the other timeline. But, at the same time, she really did love being Chief of Security at Global Dynamics. It was one of the most prestigious and sought after security jobs in the country. She would miss having her own office and a staff that followed her every order.

Still, she would give up both jobs to be back with Zane. He was what she missed the most about the original timeline. And this time, when he proposed, she wasn't going to hesitate before she said yes.

Jo absently traced patterns on her desk as she contemplated what to do next. It was barely six in the morning, so it was unlikely that Zane would drop by the office any time soon. He probably wouldn't head to work that early either.

She pushed herself away from her desk as she decided on her next move. She was going to see one of the other things she had missed the most- her house.

* * *

"_So, Dad, what's new with you?"_ Zoe asked. _"SARAH emailed me this morning and said that you never came home last night."_

"Something came up," Carter replied. He still hadn't come up with an excuse for his absence. "It was pretty important, and I had to stay all night."

"_Oh_," Zoe said, nodding sympathetically. "_It's Jo and Zane again, isn't it. Neither of them have been dealing well lately_."

Carter's stomach squirmed uncomfortably as he contemplated Zoe's statement. "What do you mean by that?" He asked nervously.

"_You know,"_ Zoe replied exasperatedly, glaring at her father, _"since you walked in on them on Founder's Day and ruined Zane's proposal. Things have gone south since then."_

Carter cleared his throat, trying to find something to say that would make it sound like he knew what she was talking about while not looking confused. Luckily for him, Zoe continued without any prompting.

"_It's been pretty rough on both of them. Especially Jo, even if it has made her a total bitch,"_ Zoe said. She paused, then continued, _"But, it's really not her fault. Not entirely, anyway."_

"Yeah, it wasn't,_"_ Carter said, still trying to figure out exactly what Zoe was talking about. To his knowledge, things with Jo and Zane were going fine, not counting the incident of the proposal.

"_Hey, listen, Dad, I have to go to Psych now or I'm going to be late. It's the last class before exams in two weeks and I need to be there. Can you make sure that Jo got my package? It has everything a girl could possibly need to get through a break up."_

"I will," Carter promised, cringing as he imagined how he was going to explain the purpose of Zoe's package to Jo. "I've got to go too. I've got a pretty busy day, but I'll try to book you a flight tonight. You said exams were in two weeks?"

"_Yeah, they're the first two weeks of May,"_ Zoe replied impatiently.

"Wait, wouldn't that make today sometime in April?" Carter asked incredulously.

"_Yes, Dad,"_ Zoe replied slowly, as if she were talking to a toddler. She rolled her eyes and continued,_ "Today is April 23__rd__. I know that you don't always keep up with the news, but you should at least know the date. Anyway, I've got to go. I'll talk to you later. Love you, bye."_ She finished and hung up.

Carter stared at the call end signal flashing on the screen. Suddenly, Zoe's package was starting to make more sense. A few seconds later, his phone lit up with two new calls, one from Henry and the other from Allison.

"SARAH, get me another beer. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day."

* * *

It took her about an hour, but Jo was finally able to get into her house after breaking through its multiple security systems. She sighed in relief as she walked through the front door. It felt good to have a house again. A place that was hers, and a bathroom that she didn't have to share with Carter. And she wouldn't have to watch anymore Jerry Springer with SARAH.

Jo stretched and sat down on her couch. It was exactly as she remembered it- looking as though it had seen better days, but extremely comfortable. She relaxed into the cushions. It felt good to be home.

She allowed herself to rest there for a few minutes before forcing herself to get up and examine the rest of the house. Everything seemed to be in order. He dishes were put away neatly in the kitchen, and her collection of _Military Ma'am_ magazines were stacked in the corner of her living room according to their publication date.

The magazines and dishes did little to quell Jo's feeling of uneasiness. Something felt off about the house. The clues were everywhere, but she couldn't seem to put them together.

Jo swung around sharply as she heard a crash in the other side of the house, towards her bedroom. She approached cautiously, with one hand on her gun. Slowly, she poked her head around the corner and looked around. There was another crash, followed by swearing. Whoever her intruder was, they weren't very good at keeping quiet.

After another round of swearing, Jo recognized the voice. It was unmistakably Zane.

She shoved her gun back into its holster and walked into her bedroom. "Morning," she said happily, creeping up behind Zane and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Um, morning," Zane replied. "What are you doing?"

"Telling you how much I've missed you," Jo replied, letting go of his waist and sitting down on the bed. She frowned. "Well, I guess to you, it wouldn't seem like I've missed you, but I have."

Zane squinted at her and took a few steps back. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's hard to explain. It might be better if we discussed it over breakfast first." Jo said, smiling at him from the bed. One meal should be enough time to question Zane about her life here make sure nothing had changed.

"You want us to have breakfast? Together?"

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?"

Zane shook his head in disbelief. "You know what, Jo? There's something really wrong with you. A month ago, things were great, we were great. Then I proposed to you and you didn't answer. Ever since then, you've been a complete bitch about everything. You made it clear that you never wanted to see me again. And now, a month later, you just want to pick up where we left off?"

Jo sat silently on the bed, afraid to ask Zane what he was talking about.

"But it doesn't matter," he continued before Jo could say anything. "I only came here to get the rest of my stuff. I'll be out of your hair from now on."

Jo looked down and saw the boxes for the first time. They were scattered around the floor, some containing clothes, others movies, and more with random trinkets of Zane's.

"I brought your stuff back, too," Zane said, nodding at more boxes on the other side of the bed, "since you were too lazy to get them yourself. And that package was outside when I came in." He gestured to a another box on Jo's bureau. "I'm leaving now. Goodbye, Jo."

Jo sat in stunned silence as Zane walked out the door. She tried to call after him, but the words died before they left her mouth. She lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling and willing herself not to cry. Suddenly, she didn't have the energy to investigate the rest of her life.


	4. Chapter 4

**I was really unhappy with this chapter and seriously considered getting rid of it and starting over. I ended up changing a few things slightly so (hopefully) it will flow better into the next chapter. It's still kind of a filler chapter though. ****I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

* * *

Carter walked through the unlocked door and into Allison's living room. "I came as soon as I got your call."

"Yeah, I can tell," Allison said, smirking at him. "I only called you ten minutes ago. You must have violated every traffic law in the town to get here so fast."

"Well, you know, I am the Sheriff," Carter pointed out. "And it was an emergency. Kind of."

Allison smiled. "Well, thanks for coming. I just started making breakfast. Have you already eaten?"

"No, but I'll eat anything," Carter replied, trying to figure out how to ask his next question. He finally decided that asking directly would be best. "How are the kids?"

"They're fine. A little cranky from me waking them up so early, but fine."

"And Kevin?" Carter asked.

Allison avoided his eyes."He's…well, he's back to how he was. Unresponsive, doesn't like to be touched. Just like before," she said, a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"Oh, Ally," Carter said sympathetically, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"It's fine," she continued, looking at Carter for the first time. "He's still my son, and I'll love him no matter what. It's just…it was nice, getting to talk to him and hug him. I'll miss that."

"Well, anytime you need a hug, you can come to me," Carter said softly, squeezing her shoulder. "Anytime, anywhere."

"Thanks, Jack."

"Now," Carter said, releasing her shoulder and guiding her into the kitchen, "what are we doing for breakfast?"

Allison quickly resumed her previously cheery tone. "Chocolate chip pancakes, the way Kevin likes them, and some bacon on the side, the way you like it."

Carter grinned. That was Allison, always accommodating the people she cared about. "Sounds good," he said, moving around her to get the refrigerator. "I'll get the bacon started."

They cooked in silence for a few minutes, working around each other as their breakfast quickly took shape. Carter glanced at Allison's extensive wall calendar, which covered every field test at GD and parent meeting at Tesla, and suddenly remembered why he had rushed to get to her house.

"Hey, by the way, you know that it's not March 13th and it's actually-"

"-April 23rd, I know," Allison finished. "Henry called me right after he talked to you. Apparently Fargo was the only one of us smart enough to check the date. Honestly though, everything is so normal that I probably wouldn't have noticed until I was in town later expecting the Founder's Day celebration."

"Me, too," Carter admitted. "I didn't even check until Zoe mentioned that she has exams in a few weeks."

"How is she?" Allison asked, flipping a pancake.

"She's fine. She still loves Harvard, but I think she's pretty excited about getting to come back here in a few weeks."

"Well, of course. Eureka is her home."

Carter nodded happily as he placed the cooked bacon on a platter and loaded more raw bacon onto the skillet. "She was pretty useful on catching up on town gossip, too. Apparently the Drs. Freidrich are cheating on each other, and everybody in town knows except the two of them."

"Henry did mention the Freidrichs. Something about 'unexpected changes' and 'more research'."

"What?" Carter spluttered, nearly dropping the skillet.

"He wasn't very clear over the phone," Allison explained, shrugging. "He just said that we should probably avoid contact with anyone else until we meet at Café Diem tonight."

"Great," Carter groaned, "so the town is going to have to last an entire day with any law enforcement or the head of GD. We're doomed."

"I'm sure the town will hold its own for a day."

"Don't say that! You'll jinx us."

Allison grinned at him and shook her head. "There's no such thing as jinxes."

"Uh-huh, sure. We'll just see who's right later after some idiot blows up half the town."

Allison chuckled and flipped another pancake. "So, did Zoe mention anything else about the last month?"

"No. Nothing helpful. She did mention that Kevin is working on something at Global, though."

"I know," Allison said happily, nodding to the calendar. "He won second place in the rocket race during Space Week. The ribbon's up there. And the top three winners from Tesla all got internships at GD to work on the projects of their choice. Kevin's working on something with Zane and Henry."

Carter winced when she mentioned Zane. "Crap," he mumbled.

"What?"

"I was in such a rush to get here that I forgot to warn Jo about time difference. According to Zoe, she and Zane broke up on Founder's Day."

"You should call her," Allison urged as she transferred the last of the pancakes to the serving platter. "Henry said that she didn't pick up when he called her earlier."

"Yeah," Carter said, reaching for his phone. He leaned against the kitchen wall as the phone rang and watched Allison set breakfast on the table. Jo didn't pick up. By the time Allison brought Jenna downstairs and secured her in her highchair, he had called several more times without any success.

"No luck?" Allison asked, seeing the look on his face as she brought Jenna's food over from the kitchen.

Carter shook his head, frowning. It wasn't like Jo not to answer her phone.

Allison touched his arm for a moment."I'm sure she's fine. You'll see her tonight at Café Diem, anyway."

"I guess so," Carter replied slowly. He looked from his phone and saw Kevin coming down the stairs into the kitchen. "Morning, Kevin."

Kevin jerked his head towards Carter in response, then sat down and began to eat.

Carter glanced over at Allison, who was once again looking sad. She missed the Kevin that communicated with her. Carter decided that even if he couldn't get the other Kevin back, he could at least get this one talking."So, Kevin, tell me all about your project at Global…"

* * *

**Also, thanks for all the awesome reviews. Keep them coming!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I wanted to do a chapter explaining how some of the time-travel stuff affects the timelines to serve as a base for the rest of the story before diving into the actual changes. I used some of the reasoning from the show, but made a lot of it up myself. It may not be accurate, but until humans actually understand how time works, it's not a bad guess.**

**As usual, I don't own any of the characters or the town, just the idea for the story.**

* * *

Jo slipped into Café Diem ten minutes late. She had barely managed to drag herself out of the house to get there. She had spent half the day lying on her bed and looking through the boxes that Zane had left her than morning. The contents ranged from a toothbrush to few copies of _Military Ma'am_ to underwear. Everything that she had kept at Zane's apartment was back at her house. Just as suddenly, all of his belongings were missing from her home.

She spent the other half of the day cleaning her impressive collection of guns. The repetition, which usually soothed her, had done little to help. Jo had seriously considered not showing up for the meeting at all in favor of letting Carter catch her up on it the next day. She ended up going just to get away from the boxes. They were filled with memories and questions about the events of the past month. Jo was sure that if she hadn't left, she would have gone insane wondering what had gone wrong. She couldn't put herself through that again.

Jo walked quietly over to the table where Carter, Allison, Fargo and Henry were already sitting, surrounding empty coffee mugs and dinner plates. They appeared to be deep in conversation, and didn't notice when she pulled up a chair and sat down.

"-wait, so, I still don't understand," Carter said. "I thought that we were getting back to our Eureka this time."

"Well, we did," Henry replied. "Or, at least we got as close as possible."

"What do you mean as close as possible?" Allison asked.

"He means that in the last few months, we've screwed with the space-time continuum pretty badly," Fargo broke in. "We've affected so much with so little knowledge of how it works, that it was unlikely that we would ever get back to our Eureka. But we did."

"A month late," Carter pointed out.

"I know," Henry sighed, playing with the salt shaker on the table. "But at least we got back to the right timeline."

"So all the differences that we'll notice are from the month we were gone?" Allison questioned.

Henry and Fargo glanced at each other, unsure of how to continue. "Well," Fargo said, "kind of."

"Kind of?" Carter demanded.

"Yes," Henry continued, picking up for Fargo. "Some of the changes, especially the more immediate ones, are probably because of whatever happened in the month we weren't here. The other versions of us from the timeline we traveled to before were most likely displaced to here. However our other selves handled the last month affects what's going on right now."

"But you said something about other changes, later?" Carter asked.

Henry glanced at Fargo again before continuing."We think that there will be some other changes later. There's actually one going on right now."

"The Freidrichs cheating on each other." Jo broke in. The other four turned around in surprise, seeing her for the first time. "Zoe told me."

"Yes, like that," Henry nodded. "In the Eureka we came from, they were divorced. In the altered timeline, they were still together."

"So they're still together here, but cheating?" Carter asked. "How did the timelines change that?"

"I think," Henry began, shifting in his seat, "that because of all the changes to the timelines, they may be converging, slowly."

"Isn't that what killed Nathan?" Allison said worriedly.

"Not exactly," Fargo corrected. "That was a time loop that unraveled the space-time continuum. What we've done is much more serious."

"Not helping, Fargo," Carter snapped.

"Well, he's right," Henry said evenly. "We've both altered the linear flow of time in multiple timelines and changed events in them. Which is why a stabilizing convergence may be out best bet."

When no one said anything, Henry continued.

"Take the Friedrichs for an example. In one universe, they're happily married, and in the other, divorced. Now they're cheating on each other. The two timelines are converging on each other to find a middle ground."

"So, cheating is the universe's way of balancing divorce and marriage?" Jo asked.

"Apparently. Eventually, the timelines will converge completely and reach equilibrium. When that happens, the middle ground will no longer be needed. At that point, the Friedrichs will probably either work out their differences or get divorced, without being affected by any timeline other than this one."

"That is, _if_ the universes successfully converge and find a middle ground," Fargo pointed out. "If not, we'll all die when they rip each other apart in the fight for dominance."

"Well, let's try to be optimistic," Carter said. "And since we know that we're in for some changes, hopefully we'll be more prepared for them."

"Exactly," Henry said, glad that the conversation was taking a turn away from the more unfortunate side effects of time travel. "So, have the rest of you found out about your lives here?"

"I took the day off to do some digging," Allison started, "and almost everything is the same as before. Judging from the massive laundry pile and the dust all over my house, I'm pretty sure that I'm still working the insane directorial hours."

Henry chuckled. "Two kids will do that to a house."

"Don't I know it," Allison said as she rolled her eyes. "Since it's Friday, I'll probably try and avoid going into GD until Monday and get caught up on the projects there over the weekend."

"I skipped work too," Fargo chipped in. "After we found out about the date change, I went home again and triple-checked that everything was fine."

"And?"

Fargo shrugged. "Everything's fine. Well, mostly. It looks like other-me must have been a major procrastinator. The list of jobs I have to do around GD is about a mile long."

"I spent the day trying to get caught up on all the disasters that we missed in the last month." Carter said. "And everything seemed okay. I mean, there were accidents, but just your standard this-person's experiment-turned-my-face-purple, not anything town-threatening."

Henry nodded. "It's almost as if we never left."

"So what about the immediate changes?" Allison asked, playing with her spoon as she stared thoughtfully into the mug. "Shouldn't we be experiencing some of those now?"

"That's why I had us meet before we went out in public," Henry explained. "Just so that we'd all be prepared. There's a good chance that we haven't seen the changes yet because we haven't had contact with other people."

"Other than Kevin, Jenna, and SARAH," Carter pointed out.

"SARAH doesn't count," Fargo corrected. "She's an AI, but there haven't been any major changes to her programming in a couple of years, so she shouldn't have been affected by anything. Plus, you were also the sheriff in the other timeline, so the other you should have been pretty much the same. She probably just chalked up any minor differences to you being moody."

"Awesome," Carter replied, leaning back in his chair and grinning, "not that I wasn't happy for SARAH, but her 'alone time' with Andy was starting to get creepy. And I am not moody."

"And Kevin and Jenna probably wouldn't have affected anything either," Henry added before Fargo could start an argument with Carter. "They're both too young to be involved in things that are more likely to have changed."

"More likely as in what, exactly?"

"As in GD," Fargo answered. "Since three of us worked there in the other timeline, there's probably a ton of problems waiting for us on Monday."

"Kevin has a project at Global," Allison said, worried. "He's been working on it since Space Week ended."

Henry tried not to let any signs of worry reach his face. The possibility of something about Kevin changing was much higher if he had been spending time at Global Dynamics. After a few seconds of debating, Henry decided on a way to placate Allison without lying to her. "We'll keep an eye on it. But I wouldn't worry too much. You said that he seemed normal this morning, so just give it another few days to be certain."

"Excellent," Carter said, scooting away from the table to stand up. "So, no major changes for four of us so far. What about you, Jo?"

He turned to look at her, only to find that Jo wasn't in her chair. Carter quickly glanced around the rest of the Café, looking for her. "Where did she go?"

"No idea," Fargo said, standing up. "But it's getting pretty late. Maybe she went home."

Allison checked her watch and quickly stepped away from the table. "It _is_ late. I have to get home to Kevin and Jenna."

"Bye," Henry called over his shoulder as Allison and Fargo left the restaurant. "What about you, Jack? Are you heading out too?"

"Eh, I guess so," Carter shrugged. "It is getting late. I think I'll stop by the office first. I haven't been there yet."

"See you later," Henry said, clapping Carter on the arm on his way out.

* * *

Carter walked slowly down Main Street toward his office. In the dark, it was almost impossible to imagine that this might be a different town than the one he and the four other travelers belonged in. Everything looked the same, including the statue of Archimedes, which was granite once again.

He strolled into the office, and smiled when the door opened with its usual squeak.

"Hey."

Carter spun around. It was too late for anyone to be there, much less anyone who hadn't bothered to turn on the lights. He squinted into the darkness. He couldn't make out the face of the visitor, and the voice didn't sound familiar.

"Who's there?"

"It's me."

"Me, who?" Carter asked, fidgeting nervously with the butt of his gun.

The lights suddenly flicked on, revealing Jo standing next to the switch in the corner of the room.

She lowered her gaze to the hand playing with his gun and glared at him disdainfully. "Did you really think about shooting me before you bothered to turn on the lights?"

"Possibly," Carter replied, quickly dropping his hand. "This whole 'changes' thing freaks me out a little bit."

"I can tell," Jo replied.

"You left early. We thought you went home." Carter said, examining Jo. She looked just as she had that morning, down to the power suit and tight bun. But under further inspection, he noticed that her hair was mussed and her eyes were red and watery. "Are you okay?"

Jo turned away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm fine"

"Are you sure?" Carter probed gently.

"Yeah. I just…it's Zane."

"I heard. Zoe told me earlier." Carter said, mentally smacking himself again for not warning Jo as soon as he had found out that morning.

"Yeah, I got her package," Jo replied, still avoiding eye contact.

"She's really worried about you," Carter continued.

Jo shrugged in response and shifted her arms slightly.

"How bad was it?"

Jo looked Carter in the eyes for the first time. "It was bad. Worse than bad. It was like last time, but even worse. He…" her voice cracked despite her efforts to keep her breathing steady and calm. "He broke in and brought all these boxes with my stuff in them. And he took back all his things. Except for the ring," she choked out, pulling the chain up to reveal the diamond.

"Oh, Jo." Carter said softly, unsure of how to comfort her.

"No, it's fine," Jo lied. "I should have expected something like this. Or I shouldn't have expected us to be together. I'm fine."

"Okay," Carter replied, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Jo looked him in the eyes and twirled the chain around her finger nervously. "I was actually waiting for you, anyway," she said, pulling away from his touch. "I was wondering if I could spend the night at your place. My house just feels too…empty."

"Yeah, sure. It'll be just like old times."

Jo gave him a weak attempt at a smile and nodded slightly. "Thanks. I think I'll head over there now."

Carter gave her a sympathetic smile as she headed to the door. "Go. I'll be here for a little while."

"Hey, Jo," he called behind her. She paused at the doorway, but didn't turn around. "I'm always here if you need something. Anything."

Jo continued through the door without looking back, leaving Carter alone in the office.

Carter shook his head and sat down at his desk. It looked like he had stumbled into one of the immediate changes. And judging from the muffled sob Jo had let out as she walked away from the doorframe, things were going to get worse before they got better.

* * *

**Phew. I'm glad that I've gotten this chapter out of the way. The next chapter starts to deal with some of the actual changes.**

**Also, if there's anything you'd like me to clarify about this chapter, leave me a review or PM me, and I'll get back to you.**


	6. Chapter 6

**First of all, I'd like to give myself a pat on the back for finishing mapping out where this story is going. That being said, the plan changes constantly, especially while I'm writing the chapters. Also, I'm going to be insanely busy for the rest of the week, so I might not be able to do my usual weekend update.**

**Also, I apologize if I didn't answer your review for the last chapter. I took a break while replying and forgot which ones I had already gotten through.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Good morning, Deputy Lupo. Would you like me to start breakfast for you?"

Jo finished her descent down the stair and sat down in the kitchen. "No thanks, SARAH. Coffee would be great though."

"Coming right up."

"You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day," Carter added as he sat down next to Jo at the island.

"Sheriff Carter is correct. Breakfast is very important. Not eating now could throw you off for the rest of the day," SARAH affirmed.

"I'm not hungry," Jo snapped at SARAH.

"But you'll need your strength for today," SARAH protested.

"Just get me the damn coffee."

Carter winced. Arguing with Jo before her morning cup of coffee was never a good idea.

"If you insist," SARAH replied in what Jo could have sworn was a slightly contemptuous tone.

"Are you okay?" Carter asked Jo after she had drank half the cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jo said slowly, tracing the rim of her cup with a finger. She smiled weakly at Carter and continued, "Or as fine as I'll ever be. I just have to accept this and move on."

Carter nodded dubiously. There was no way that Jo was fine. Especially after he had caught her alone in the office, crying. "Well, my offer from last night still stands. Anytime you need me, I'll be there."

"Thanks, but I think that I need to try and work through this," Jo replied, still attempting to smile at him. "I'm taking off now. See you at the office later."

"See you there," Carter nodded. He watched Jo walk out the door and shook his head. Letting a sad and confused Jo loose on the town was probably not going to make his day any easier, but stopping her and forcing her to talk would only make it day worse.

"SARAH, can you make me some breakfast and put a game on? I want to have a nice morning before this blows up in my face."

* * *

Allison rushed down the stairs to reach her ringing phone. Usually, she was careful to remember to bring it upstairs, turn it on silent, and recharge it next to her bed. Unfortunately, the combination of the lingering questions about time traveling and the later hour she returned home had caused her to forget and leave her phone in her purse downstairs.

She reached the kitchen counter and frantically searched her bag from her phone, picking up on the last ring.

"Dr. Blake."

"_Where are you? Testing of the candidates starts in less than half an hour_."

"What? Who is this?"

"_This is General Mansfield. If you're not here in twenty minutes, we'll have to delay testing again. We cannot afford to go any longer without someone holding the position_."

Allison's eyebrows gathered in confusions as she tried to make sense of what Mansfield was saying. She didn't know of any ongoing testing that required her presence, but then again, she had planned to catch up on GD projects over breakfast. "I-"

"_Dr. Blake, you haven't been taking your duties as Director seriously in the last few weeks. If you don't get here in twenty minutes, then maybe you don't really want your job. I'm sure that uppity assistant of yours would be willing to give it a try_."

"I'm on my way now," Allison replied, rubbing her forehead to try and prevent the headache she felt coming on.

"_Good._"

Allison ended the call and set her phone down on the table. If Mansfield had called just an hour later, she might have had some semblance of an idea as to what he was talking about. Testing? The Director almost never had to be present for testing, unless the test was for continued funding.

She sighed and walked across the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. By the time it was ready, she would have to be dressed and ready to leave. Still, it could be worse. The two main reasons she kept her phone with her was so that she could be reached at all times and to avoid waking Jenna. She hadn't done either of those things. Maybe this morning wouldn't be so bad after all.

Five minutes later, Allison jogged back down the stairs, dressed and ready for work. She grabbed a thermos and leapt over a set of building blocks to the coffee pot. Quickly, she poured the coffee and pivoted around to leave the house. Mid-turn, her left heel caught on a tile and snapped off, sending Allison tumbling into a rack of pots and pans. They crashed down around her, barely missing her head.

Allison looked down. She had dropped the coffee. Her clothes were covered in dark brown stains and pots and pans were strewn around the kitchen. Upstairs, Jenna began to wail.

Allison sighed. She had been wrong. This was going to be a horrible day.

* * *

Jo walked through the doors and sat down at the counter in Café Diem. Soon after she had left Carter's, she discovered that she was actually hungry, she just didn't want food that SARAH forced on her. She waved to get Vincent's attention and almost smiled when he walked over immediately. There was nothing like a breakfast made by Vincent to make your day better.

"Hey, Vincent. Can I get an egg-white omelet and some coffee?"

"Of course, Jo," Vincent replied cheerily. A second later, shadow of doubt crossed his face. "Wait, do you have time to eat? GD testing starts in less than half an hour."

"Testing? What are you talking about?" Jo asked in confusion.

Vincent looked at her in shock and shook his head. "Don't tell me you forgot."

Jo stared blankly at him.

Vincent shook his head again and continued, "You have to go. If you don't leave now you're not going to make it on time."

"I don't know what you're-" Jo began, but stopped mid-sentence in surprise when Vincent jogged around the counter and began to shoo her out of the restaurant.

"Go! Go! Stop by later and tell me how it went!"

Jo jogged to her car to get away from Vincent. As she backed out of her parking space, he waved at her while tapping his wrist. Jo shook her head. So much for her much-needed pick-me-up. She had spent the night tossing and turning and had only managed to sleep for a few hours before drinking half a cup of coffee and rushing out of Carter's house. And now she had to get to GD in twenty minutes to find out whatever this 'testing ' was.

She shook her head again and floored the accelerator. The only way she could get to GD on time was by speeding. Jo groaned and recapped her morning: no sleep, no coffee, breaking the speed limit, and some kind of testing that seemed to require her presence. It was going to be a rotten day.

* * *

Allison strode into GD with exactly three minutes to spare. As soon as she was through the security scanners, she saw Fargo wave her over into a secluded corner of the rotunda. She picked up her pace and slipped behind the pillar to talk to him.

"What is it?" Allison hissed softly to Fargo. "This is a really bad time. Mansfield called me half an hour ago and told me that I had to come in for some kind of 'testing' that should start any minute now."

"I know," Fargo hissed back. "I've been here for an hour. Other-me had an alarm on my phone to remind him about the testing."

"Do you know what it's for?"

Fargo shook his head. "Apparently it's top secret. There wasn't anything written down about it, and Mansfield hasn't talked to anyone about it since he got here."

Allison peered around the pillar and saw Mansfield exiting one of the elevators. "Mansfield is coming. We should go find out what's going on."

Fargo nodded and followed Allison into the center of the rotunda.

"General Mansfield," Allison nodded.

Mansfield did not return the gesture. "I see you managed to make it here on time, Dr. Blake," he said icily. "Though your assistant has been here for an hour."

Allison clenched her jaw shut to prevent her from responding. Anything she said now would sound like an accusation or a poor excuse.

Mansfield looked away from Allison and toward the security scanners. "Deputy Lupo. Nice to see that you plan on joining us after all."

Allison looked up in surprise to see Jo making her way through the rotunda to where the three of them were standing.

"What is she doing here?" Fargo hissed under his breath to Allison.

Allison shrugged, wondering the same thing herself. As Jo approached them, Allison noticed that the other woman's face showed signs of the same confusion.

"Let's get started," Mansfield continued, walking away from the rotunda . Allison, Fargo, and Jo followed him as he rounded the corner and led them away from the elevators.

Allison desperately tried to figure out where they were going. Most of the labs in use were in on a lower floor. She poked Fargo, who shook his head and shrugged. Jo shot Allison another confused look, which Allison answered shrugging and nodding at Mansfield.

Mansfield stopped abruptly at the last door in the hall. Waiting in front and anxiously clutching a data pad was Dr. Friedrich. Friedrich pulled Mansfield aside and began talking animatedly in a low whisper. Allison's brow furrowed again. Dr. Friedrich's specialty was in medical research, and his lab was two floors below them.

Fargo poked Allison hard in her side and pointed at the door. Allison squinted at it, and realized that it was the same lab that they had emerged from the previous morning.

She turned back to Fargo in time to see him communicate the same to Jo. He turned back to Allison and mouthed what looked like, "This is bad." Allison was about to tell him to stay calm when Mansfield and Friedrich stopped talking.

"I really don't know what happened," Friedrich mumbled as he and Mansfield returned to the group.

"That's why we need to finish the testing today," Mansfield growled. "Global Dynamics cannot afford to have things like this happen."

"Erm, what happened, exactly?" Fargo asked meekly.

Allison smiled internally, glad that Fargo beat her to the question. As Director, she was supposed to know about any kind of strange event. Not having a clue what was going on and barely making it to work on time did not look good coming from anyone, much less the director.

"This lab was broken into," Friedrich answered, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I'm not sure how. I chose this location for the testing because the space here is almost never in use. I double checked with you last month to confirm the space was available," he continued, nodding to Allison, "and there were no projects or experiments here. "

"But you didn't have security posted. Again, that's why we need to finish testing," Mansfield repeated. "This kind incident won't happen again once the position is filled. Is the testing area compromised?"

Friedrich shook his head. "Everything seems fine."

Mansfield nodded. "Then let's continue."

Friedrich nodded and turned to Jo. "Okay. Since you were the forerunner last time, you're going first with this test."

Allison noticed Jo's brow furrow slightly. She clearly had no idea what this was about either.

"Um, okay," Jo said slowly, avoiding Mansfield's ever-watchful eyes. "What do I have to do?"

Friedrich smiled, clearly happy that the conversation had returned to his area of expertise. "First, I inject you with this," he said as he pulled a syringe out of his pocket and pushed the needle into Jo's arm before she could protest. He put the syringe back in his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular device. "Clip this onto your arm. Other than that, it's basically the same as last time. I added a few features after the incident. This will monitor your time, heart rate, and course. All the information is sent in real-time to my data pad. It also has a panic button in case anything goes wrong."

Jo nodded and carefully secured the device on her arm.

"I've made some changes to the test because of the last time," Friedrich continued. "The first section is cardiovascular endurance. When I say go, I'll turn the device on. Follow your instincts from there."

Jo shot a quick glance at Allison and Fargo, pleading for help. Allison shrugged sympathetically and turned her eyes away from Jo.

"Go!"

Suddenly, Jo took off into the empty room. Allison watched in befuddlement as Jo raced around in circle, occasionally stopping to punch at an invisible adversary.

Mansfield cocked his head in Allison's direction as the four of them watched Jo's progress. "What do you think of her?"

Allison searched for a response, still trying to understand what kind of testing Jo was doing. "Well, her cardiovascular endurance seems to be fine."

"It's more than fine," Friedrich said, lifting his data pad up to for Allison and Mansfield to see. "Look at those numbers. Most people would have collapsed out of exhaustion by now."

"And how is she doing with the targets?" Mansfield asked.

"Exemplary. She's performing almost as well as she did at the shooting range."

"What targets?" Allison asked, not seeing what Jo was punching.

"They're digital," Friedrich explained. "they work through tracking agent I injected her with . The agent originally helped monitor track progress. I modified it so that it would also project an image of an enemy target."

"So, she thinks that she's fighting a real person?"

"Yes," Friedrich confirmed. "General Mansfield had me modify the device to do so after last time, when the testing got violent."

Allison and Fargo exchanged a quick glance, both wondering what 'violent' meant.

"I think she's it," Mansfield said, crossing his arms across his chest. "She's proven herself more than capable and serious about the position."

Allison looked up from Friedrich's data pad to observe Jo, who was still fighting her nonexistent adversary. She paused, unsure of what her answer would mean.

"Dr. Blake, we agreed that this position needed to be created and filled immediately."

She shot one last look at an equally confused Fargo before turning to Mansfield. Allison nodded emphatically while fighting the feeling that she was getting in over her head. "She's definitely the person for the job."

Mansfield nodded, first to Allison, then to Friedrich. "Stop the test. We've found our new Chief of Security."

* * *

**If you have any suggestions or ideas that you'd like to see me work into my story, leave them in a review. Also, even though I'm going to be busy, I promise to respond to every review this time. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Whoohooo! I finally got this chapter up after my insane weekend. Really, it was weird, I'm never this busy. Hopefully now I can get back to my regular schedule of updating. I guess we'll have to wait and see though.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Eureka. Dang.**

* * *

"She's the new what?"

"Chief of Security, Carter. I've told you this at least five times," Allison replied, failing to keep the exasperation out of her voice. "I didn't call you here to repeat myself. We need to figure out what this means."

Carter sighed and scratched the back of his neck. Allison had called him twenty minutes ago and told him to get to GD. She had been brief on the phone, and didn't explain why he had to come until he got there. Still, Carter was glad that she had'nt. If she had told him over the phone he might not have believed her.

"Okay," he began, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, "so this morning you got a call from Mansfield."

Allison nodded. "He wanted to know why I wasn't already at work. I was supposed to be there early for some kind of 'testing'."

"And he didn't tell you what it was for?"

She shook her head. "I'm the director, remember," she snapped. "I'm supposed to know about everything already. I couldn't exactly ask Mansfield what the testing was for."

"Okay, sorry, you're right," Carter replied quickly, holding up his hands. "Keep going."

"Fargo, Jo, and I followed Mansfield to the lab that we came back in yesterday. Dr. Friedrich injected Jo with a tracking agent and sent her inside for a series of cardio and combat tests. Then Mansfield started talking about 'filling the position' and it being 'vital to GD.' And, I don't know, I had to agree with him to make it sound like I knew what I was doing and… " Allison trailed off, sounding like she was on the verge of a breakdown.

Carter reached over and hugged her. "Hey, it's okay. As far as changes go, this one isn't too bad."

"I guess not. But that will really depend on how Jo reacts," Allison said, checking her watch.

"Wait, she doesn't know yet?" Carter asked incredulously.

Allison shook her head. "Mansfield wanted to stop the testing, but Friedrich said it had to continue or the sudden stop might injure her. She should be finishing up though," Allison said, then paused and smiled sheepishly. "And I didn't want to be the one to tell her."

Carter nodded. "Let's go tell Jo about her new job."

"I'm the new what?" Jo asked incredulously.

"Chief of Security," Fargo reminded her.

He and Jo were safely hidden with Allison and Carter in Allison's office. Fargo had pulled an exhausted and stunned Jo away from Dr. Friedrich and General Mansfield before she could accidentally reveal that she didn't know what the testing had been for.

Luckily, as Fargo grabbed Jo, Mansfield had to take a phone call from the DOD. Dr. Friedrich was too wrapped up in analyzing Jo's results notice everyone abandoning him in the empty lab.

Jo shot Fargo a dirty look. "I know, Fargo. I heard you the first time when you dragged me away from the testing area. You don't need to repea-"

"Okay, okay," Carter said, stepping between Jo and Fargo in case Jo decided to punch him. "We're all a little shocked right now. But this is good. Let's all get it out before Mansfield comes back and we have to act like we're not surprised."

Allison nodded. "Apparently Jo was put on the short list a month ago, and was the forerunner in all the tests. You were the obvious choice."

"But I already have a job," Jo protested. "And besides, this position doesn't even exist in this universe."

"It does now. Mansfield decided to create it a few weeks ago," Allison said.

"Shhh," Fargo hushed, "Mansfield is on his way back in."

The four of them turned around to face the door just before Mansfield reached it. He replaced his phone in his pocket and extended his hand to Jo.

"Congratulations, Deputy Lupo. You're the Head of Security now. The Department of Defense just finalized creating the position with you as the Chief."

Jo nodded seriously and shook his hand, unsure of what to say.

Mansfield continued before she figured out what to say. "You start work Monday. The room we had the testing in today is being converted into your office. It should have enough room for you to house your weapons and all GD technology needed for the job."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second," Carter cut in. "She starts work Monday? Does this mean that we're breaking Andy out again?"

"Unfortunately, no. Andy still refuses to comply to DOD orders, and cannot be put in a leadership position until he does so."

"So, who's going to be the deputy?" Allison asked.

Mansfield turned his gaze from Carter to Allison, then back again. "Well, Sheriff Carter, as you have so often reminded me, my job is only to oversee the happenings at Global Dynamics. Everything else in Eureka is not my responsibility, unless it will impact GD. And since Chief Lupo will be handling security matters here, I highly doubt that there will be as many incidents as in the past."

Carter stared at Mansfield, dumb founded. "The whole reason you created Andy in the first place was because the town needs two security personnel."

"The security of the town is your responsibility, Sheriff Carter," Mansfield said coldly. "If you don't think you can manage without Lupo, then I can begin searching for your replacement immediately."

Cater opened his mouth, then shut it, not wanting to make the situation worse.

Mansfield nodded. "Good. I look forward to hearing of your progress, Chief Lupo." He nodded to Jo again and strode out of the office.

Cater groaned and sat down on Allison's couch. "Great," he sighed, putting his head in his hands, "the town is done for. We'll be lucky to make it a week."

"Henry needs to know about this," Allison said, tapping a finger on her desk. "We need to keep this contained until we can figure out exactly what it means."

Fargo nodded. "I emailed him while the testing was going on. I didn't say anything specific, just that he needed to know about one of the changes."

"Alright. I guess there's nothing else we can do about it for now," Allison said, sitting down on her chair

"So we're just going to wait here?" Carter asked.

"It's probably the safest thing to do," Fargo answered. "Plus, no one's going to think it's suspicious. It'll just look like we're in a meeting, trying to figure out why the lab frogs in Tesla are suddenly flying or something."

"Don't jinx us," Carter moaned from the couch.

Allison suddenly sat up straight like she had been struck by lightning. "Where's Jo?"

"She's right ther-" Carter began, turning to where Jo had been standing near the door. She was gone. Again.

"She's over there," Fargo said, pointing to the rotunda. Jo was walking quickly toward the elevators. Instead of getting on one, she made a sharp left and disappeared. People along the way appeared to be waving and trying to get her attention.

Carter groaned again. "So much for keeping this contained."

Jo walked quickly through the hallway. She needed to get away from the office. As soon as Carter started talking about replacing her, she began to feel like she couldn't breathe. The feeling got worse and worse until she finally slipped out.

The people she passed all seemed to be either waving at her in congratulations, or whispering in low tones and averting their eyes. Apparently, her new job was a controversial decision.

As she walked, their seemed to be more and more people whispering. Jo broke into a jog to get away from them. The job became a sprint, and soon she was flying down the halls, not knowing or caring where she was going. She had to get away from the suffocating feeling.

Jo shook her head in an attempt to clear it, and ran smack into something very solid.

"Ow! What the hell?"

Jo blinked. She was on the floor, twisted awkwardly. A few feet away from her, Zane was sitting up and rubbing his elbow.

He glared at her. "Geez, Lupo. So when you can't get me in trouble, you charge into me where I work?"

Jo sat up and shook her head. "It was an accident. I didn't see you . I didn't even know where I was going."

"I can tell," Zane said, standing up. His gaze softened slightly. "Are you okay?"

Jo nodded slowly, trying not to look at his face. His eyes focused on her exactly the way they used to whenever he was concerned about her. "I-I'm fine. Just a little surprised, I guess."

"Surprised?"

"Yeah. Mansfield just made me the Chief of Security."

Zane grinned. "That surprised you? You were way better than your competition. You were always going to get it. Congratulations, Jo Jo."

Jo swallowed and resisted the tears that threatened to leak out of her eyes. "Thanks. You're the first person who's told me that."

"You deserve it," Zane said, extending his hand and pulling Jo to her feet. His hand lingered on her arm for a brief second before he quickly pulled it back. "Well, see you around."

"Bye," Jo whispered softly to watched Zane's retreating form. The tears she had been holding in started to spill. The feel of his hands on her arms as he pulled her to her feet had been the closest she had felt to him since he proposed to her. Letting him leave her again was torture. She wanted to run after him and let him hold her while she cried and told him everything that had happened in the alternate timeline.

Jo wiped her eyes and kept her head down as she made her way to the nearest bathroom. Inside, she looked at her puffy eyes and red nose in the mirror. The sheer irony of her situation made her laugh. She had just been appointed to one of the most prestigious security jobs in the world because she was known for being tough and never giving up, but here she was, crying her eyes out over her ex-boyfriend.

She turned the water on and washed her faced while trying to suppress any additional bouts of tears or laughter. She was the Chief of Security now, and she had to start acting like it. No more crying in public, especially in the corridors of the institution that was under her charge. Starting Monday, she would become the enforcer, the only person who could manage to hold the lid onto the disaster that was GD.

Jo fixed her hair and nodded to herself in the mirror. She could do it. Technically, she already had. And since she knew there were changes coming, she would be that much more prepared for any emergencies around GD.

As Jo walked out of the bathroom, she tried to ignore the doubts that were nagging at her brain. Becoming the enforcer would make GD a safer place, but it was likely what had ruined her relationship with Zane in the last month. Did she want to be more like the Jo that he hated? Could she even do her job to the best of her ability when there was always the chance that Zane was just around the corner, at the root of the disaster?

Rounding the corner to the rotunda, Jo hit the question that worried her the most. Would Zane ever look at her the way he used to again?

* * *

**So, there goes the first change. But don't worry. There's more exciting changes coming up. **

**Also, I accept unsigned reviews, but if you leave one, I can't respond to it.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Another chapter up. Another who-knows-how-many to go.**

**Sorry for the long break in updating. I was busy and had writer's block. Luckily, once I got back into it, the chapter pretty much wrote itself. It may be a little bit of a filler, but I wanted to include the relationships between the characters.**

* * *

Carter slowly drove down the road, looking for Henry's truck. He hadn't seen Henry since the meeting at Café Diem over a week ago, and he was starting to worry. Even when he was busy, Henry still made it a habit to pop into town for a meal at Café Diem or a quick chat with a friend.

When Carter found the truck, he pulled over to the side of the road and hopped out of his jeep. "Henry?"

"I'm over here," Henry shouted back from somewhere on the other side of the truck.

Carter made his way around the truck cautiously, having experienced the kind of dangers that usually accompanied Henry fixing something. On the other side of the truck he spotted Henry, who was waist deep in a muddy ditch by the side of the road.

"Hey, Jack," Henry said, looking up at Carter, "mind giving me a hand here?"

"Um, sure, okay," Carter replied, extending his hands to Henry while bracing his feet on the road.

Once Henry was out, he nodded his thanks to Carter and pulled his gloves off. "Hang on a second. I've got a change of clothes in the back of my truck. How did you find me out here, anyway?"

Carter leaned against the truck and crossed his arms, waiting for Henry to finish changing. "I've been looking for you. I haven't heard from you since we all met at Café Diem on Friday."

Henry emerged from the back of his truck, wearing a clean jumpsuit. "I talked to you about Jo's new job."

"That doesn't count. It was over the phone, and the conversation lasted for less than two minutes."

Henry shrugged and began placing his tools back into their proper spots in the truck. "I'm fine."

"Really? Because it seems like you've been avoiding me, and the entire town, for that matter," Carter said, trying not to sound angry.

"I'm not avoiding anyone."

"Are you sure?" Carter pressed. "You haven't answered your phone in days and I had to talk to at least five people before I found out that you were out here. What are you doing here, anyway?"

Henry turned a wrench over in his hands as he considered the question. "I'm fixing a degraded pipeline."

"For a week?"

"It's pretty badly damaged, and I couldn't find the original blueprint" Henry said. "I'm not sure what caused it, but it's been a pain to fix."

"Doesn't the town have a guy who fixes stuff like this. Other than you, I mean," Carter said quickly, cutting Henry off from pointing out the obvious. "I mean someone who specializes in this sort of thing."

"They do. He's working on a project at GD that's taking priority. I've been trying to get him to send me the blueprints all week, but he keeps saying that he's too busy."

"And you were the next person in line to do the job," Carter concluded, nodding to himself.

"Actually, no."

Carter turned to Henry in surprise. "No?"

"No," Henry confirmed. He took his hat off and scratched his head hesitantly before continuing. "I volunteered."

"Why? Aren't you supposed to be at GD, working on something with Zane?"

"Well, yes. I told Zane that I wasn't feeling well and that I needed a few days off."

Carter stared at Henry in disbelief. Henry almost never lied, unless it was about something important. "You lied to him. Why?"

Henry looked down at the wrench before looking back up at Carter. "Grace."

"What?" Carter spluttered.

"Grace lives over there," Henry said, pointing to a neighborhood on the far side of the field. "This line goes directly to her house. It's been giving her trouble for a few weeks, but there wasn't someone available to check it out until now."

"Ahhh," Carter said, suddenly understanding, "and you just happened not to be busy."

Henry nodded. "Exactly."

Carter uncrossed his arms and stuck his hands in his pockets. "So, have you talked to her?"

"Three times," Henry replied enthusiastically, gesturing happily with the wrench. "Once when I told her that I was going to look at the line. Then later, she stopped by on her way to work and said hi. And then yesterday she brought me lunch."

"So…are you going to ask her?" Carter questioned timidly.

"Ask her what, exactly?" Henry said sharply. "If she somehow sees me as her husband who never existed?"

Carter leaned against the truck again. "Well, I wouldn't phrase it that way."

Henry shook his head. "I can't say anything. It's torture, seeing her and talking to her but knowing that she doesn't share any of my memories of us," he sighed and shook his head again. "Now I understand how the other-Grace felt when I told her that I wasn't her Henry."

"So instead you're going to keep torturing yourself by deliberately setting yourself up to talk to her for a few minutes every day?"

Henry shrugged. "What else can I do?"

Carter sighed and straightened up. "I guess I can't talk you out of this. Just call me, if you want to talk about it."

Henry gave Carter a small smile. "I know it's not the best way, but for now, it's the only way I can see her."

Carter nodded and turned to walk back to his jeep. "Hey, we should have lunch together. Café Diem at three sound good?"

Henry nodded and checked his watch."Make it three-thirty. I need a little extra time to close the line or it could ruin all the work I've done on it."

"Great. See you at three thirty," Carter said as he climbed into his jeep. As he pulled back onto the road, he glanced in his rearview mirror and saw a car stop next to Henry's truck. He shook his head and tried to suppress a smile. Henry had salvaged his relationship with Grace once before, but he was probably setting himself up for a heartbreak trying to do so again. Still, Carter knew that there was no way Henry was going to stop trying, even if he had to lie and fake sick to do it.

* * *

Carter walked into Café Diem exactly ten minutes before he was due to meet Henry for lunch. He smiled to himself and sat down on a stool in front of the counter. He was never on time. Usually some kind of emergency requiring his attention got in the way, but all that had happened since he talked to Henry earlier was a minor dispute over a lost data pad, and that had been quickly remedied.

He continued to smile to himself as Vincent nodded in his direction and signaled that he would take his order next. Being early felt good, as did having an easy morning. Carter's smile faltered. Come to think of it, the whole week had been easy. There had been less than half the usual amount of disasters, and no one had died. He hadn't even had to save GD from exploding yet. Jo must have been doing her job pretty damn well if she was keeping all of Global under control.

"Afternoon, Sheriff. What can I do for you?" Vincent asked, making his way around the counter.

"I'll have a burger with onion rings. And pickles. And fries on the side. And maybe a piece of pie to round it off."

Vincent glared at Carter. "Is that all, or would you like me to stab you in the heart to finish it off?"

"No, I'm good, thanks," Carter grinned, leaning forward on his stool.

Vincent nodded. "What about you, Dr. Monroe? What would you like?"

Carter whipped his head around to see, Grace, standing behind him with her arms crossed and looking somewhat nervous.

"I'm fine," she replied, sitting down on the stool next to Carter's. "I'll just have a water."

"Alrighty then," Vincent smiled, pouring Grace a glass of water. He poured another one and handed it to Carter. I'll be right back."

Once Vincent had disappeared into the kitchen, Grace turned to face Carter. She fiddled with a button on her jacket as she began to talk.

"Hi, Sheriff. We met about a month ago. I'm not sure if you remember me-"

"Yeah, I do. It was Founder's Day," Carter replied, trying to sound like he was having trouble remembering. "You're Grace Monroe. Henry introduced us while he was fixing up your antique car."

Grace smiled, obviously glad that Carter had stopped her from rambling. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. You're pretty close with Henry, right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess," Carter said slowly, trying to figure out where the conversation was going.

"Well, I was just wondering…is he seeing anybody?"

Carter choked on his water. He couldn't have heard that correctly. "What?"

"Is Henry seeing anybody?" Grace repeated earnestly.

Carter coughed, trying to clear his airways as he processed the question. He couldn't believe that she was asking this.

Grace seemed to take his silence as a need for explanation. "I've been wondering for a little while now," she began, fiddling with her straw, "especially since he started working on the damaged line to my house. I just thought that since you're his friend you might know and that you would maybe be able to help me and-"

"He's not," Carter interrupted. He didn't know if this counted as a change, but setting up Henry and Grace probably wasn't going to get them sanctioned.

"He's not?" Grace asked hopefully.

"Nope. Not at all."

"Oh," Grace said, letting go of her straw. "Do you think, by any chance, that he'd be interested in me?"

"Absolutely," Carter replied, gaining confidence in his decision. "I think that you two would be great together."

Grace smiled. "Really?"

"Definitely," Carter said, nodding firmly. "Actually, I'm here to meet him for lunch, but maybe you'd like to take my place."

"I don't think I shoul-"

"Sheriff, you're lunch is ready," Vincent interrupted, emerging from the kitchen with Carter's lunch on a plate.

Carter glanced at the door and saw Henry approaching. "Can you make that to-go, Vince. I'm leaving in a few minutes."

Vincent nodded and disappeared to get a takeout box.

Carter stood up and grinned at Henry. "Hey."

"Hey," Henry said back. He turned to Grace and smiled. "How's the your service now?"

"It's great," Grace replied, smiling warmly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Carter caught Vincent returning with his takeout box. "Sorry, Henry, I know that lunch was my idea, but I have to go. But I'm sure that Grace, uh, Dr. Monroe will keep you company instead."

Carter grabbed his takeout box, flashed a quick grin at Henry and took off before the other man could vocalize his puzzled expression.

* * *

Confident that he had done the right thing with Henry, Carter strode into the office happily and sat down at his desk. He might have to eat alone, but at least Henry was going to be a whole lot happier.

"Boo."

Carter jumped, nearly dropping his burger. In Jo's old desk sat Zane, leaned back in the chair with his feet propped up on the desk.

"What are you doing?" Carter spluttered, setting his lunch down safely in its box. "And get your feet off the desk. Jo hates that."

Zane swung his legs off the desk and turned the chair to face Carter. "That's what I'm here to talk about. Jo."

Carter groaned internally. He didn't like talking about feelings. He was willing to, once in a while, for a friend, but twice in one day was a little bit much. "What about her?" He sighed.

"After we broke up, she was so different," Zane began, twisting his fingers together, "so when you told me to back off, I listened."

Carter frowned. This was going to be even worse than his conversation with Grace. He had no idea how to respond to the things that the other-him had said or done.

"It was like she was a different person," Zane continued. "And now it's like she's changed again. For the last month, she's been a bitch to me. But since she got the new job, nothing. Well, not nothing. She's being nice again. You know, acting the way she did when we were still together. She even looked at me like she used to."

"Okay," Carter replied, unsure of what Zane was asking.

"I guess what I want to know is, what the hell happened to her? Nobody has such severe personality changes like that. It's like she's two different people. She is only one person, right?" Zane asked, looking Carter in the eyes.

Carter swallowed dryly and tried to resist the urge to break eye contact with Zane. He couldn't know what had happened. Or could he? The other- Zane had been pretty close to figuring it out when they left, and this Zane was just as clever.

"I don't think that's possible," Carter replied slowly, focusing on maintaining eye contact.

"Yeah, I know," Zane sighed, standing up and making his way to the door. "It's just…she's so different. And I miss her."

"Me too," Carter said, looking at Jo's empty desk.

Carter's phone rang suddenly, forcing him to stop staring at Jo's desk. He held a finger up to Zane, indicating that he needed to take the call.

"Sheriff Carter."

"_Carter? It's Allison. We have a security emergency in the rotunda_."

"I'm on my way," Carter replied, snapping his phone shut and pushing his mostly uneaten lunch away from him.

"There's an emergency at GD," Carter said to Zane as he pulled his coat on. "I need to get over there."

Zane squinted at Carter. "Isn't that why Mansfield hired Jo?"

Carter shrugged and jogged out the door. "Allison called me. She sounded worried."

"About what?" Zane asked, running to catch up with Carter.

Carter paused at the door to his jeep. Zane was usually only interested in emergencies that he had created or had to help fix. "Something about a security emergency. That's all she said."

"Damn it," Zane swore, slamming a hand down on Carter's jeep. "I should have known this was going to happen. I'll meet you there."

Carter clambered into his jeep as Zane ran to get his car. Carter pulled out of his parking spot and shook his head. This was going to be bad. He could feel it.

* * *

**I know I promised more exciting changes, and they are coming. Technically, most of them aren't changes, but they're still more exciting than this. They should come in the next few chapters.**

**Thanks for all the great reviews. Keep it up.**


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter may seem a bit repetitive, but it was in my original plan, and I wanted to include it for the next chapter. Also, I was sick and exhausted when I edited this, so please excuse an spelling/grammatical errors.**

* * *

Fargo paced between two pillars in the rotunda nervously as he kept a watchful eye on the entrance to GD. He was waiting for Sheriff Carter to arrive, as per Allison's instructions. Fargo twitched momentarily, agitated that he had to take orders again. He shook off the feeling quickly and checked on the entrance again. As much as he hated taking orders, he had been glad to get out of there. It had looked like things could get violent, and that was definitely not in the job description of an assistant. Luckily, it fit perfectly for the sheriff.

As he paced away from the entrance, Fargo caught a figure running into GD out of the corner of his eye. Fargo took off towards the sheriff while yelling, "Carter!"

Carter slowed down and nearly stumbled. "What? There's an emergency somewhere in GD."

Fargo growled internally as he felt another surge of irritation. "There's always an emergency somewhere in GD. Anyway, I'm here to talk about the one that Allison called you about."

"Okay," Carter nodded, stepping towards the elevators, "shoot."

"Not that way," Fargo corrected, pointing away from the elevators and down the corridor on the right. "Over there."

"Isn't that where Jo's new office is?" Carter asked. "Shouldn't she already be at the emergency site."

"Her office is the emergency site."

"Wha-"

"Angry armed men," Fargo spat out, not caring if it didn't make any sense. He wanted to get an entire thought out before Carter cut him off. "The other candidates for the position of Security Chief are at Jo's office. And they're really pissed."

The two men strode around another bend in the hall, revealing Jo's office. Outside, just as Fargo had said, were six men, each one heavily armed and looking extremely angry.

"Hey!" One of the men yelled, waving at Carter and Fargo. "You can put it off for as long as you want, but we're staying here until we get a fair shot at it."

"Carter," a voice hissed from the corner.

Fargo and Carter stopped, turning in the direction of the voice. It was Allison, hidden in a small storage room. She gestured for them to join her.

Fargo stepped inside happily, glad that he probably wouldn't have to get involved with the situation that was brewing. In the week since their return, he had gone back to being a lowly assistant, and was tired of having to solve everyone else's problems.

Once Fargo and Carter were in the closet, Allison began talking in a hushed voice. "I'm not entirely sure how this started, but the men have been sitting out there for almost an hour. I'm afraid that if we don't talk to them soon, this could turn violent."

"Who are they?" Carter hissed back.

"They were the other candidates for Chief of Security," Allison hissed back. "Their names are Brown, Johnson, Walters, Peters, Chen, and Birkman. They all have excellent security backgrounds, but they're still over-armed. They can't carry that many weapons in the building unless specially authorized."

"They were," Fargo cut in.

"What?"

"From what I've found out, the testing got a little extreme," Fargo continued, trying to resist smirking. Being an assistant did have some perks-like hearing information that no one would tell the boss. "Two weeks ago, Mansfield authorized a test of Friedrich's involving heavy artillery, without telling you. Special authorization was given to all the candidates to use souped-up weapons. Apparently, he thought that you would be against the upgrade."

"Well that still doesn't explain why they have them now, since the job is taken," Carter pointed out.

"I think Mansfield wanted to keep Jo's job quiet," Fargo shrugged. "You know, to make it seem like there had always been someone handling the craziness of GD. Not that it worked, because everybody knows. Technically, though, testing was never cancelled."

"Why wasn't it cancelled?" Allison asked angrily.

"Because you never cancelled it," Fargo hissed back. He was not going to take the blame for this. "So now there's six angry and highly armed men out there who want a fair chance to get the security job."

"So, what now?" Carter asked.

"You test them."

Carter, Fargo, and Allison whirled around. Zane was standing behind them in the closet, leaning against the doorframe.

"I had a feeling that this might happen," Zane continued, tapping on his data pad, "so when Carter told me you called him about a 'security emergency,' I got over here as fast as I could. I would have been here a while ago, but I had to re-hack the testing files."

"You hacked the testing files?" Carter asked dubiously. Zane was starting to sound like the Zane from the other timeline.

Zane shrugged. "It didn't take nearly as long as it did last time. Anyway, Faro's right. Even though the position has been filled, the testing was technically never cancelled."

"So why should they be tested if there is no spot for them?" Allison said.

"Fairness," Zane said simply. "It'll prove what everyone else already knows-that Jo is the best person for the job."

"And if they cause an incident, it's going to be on you when Mansfield hears about it," Fargo pointed out to Allison.

Zane clapped his hands together gleefully. "Let's get Friedrich and Jo up here and let the testing begin."

* * *

"No."

"Jo, you have to."

"No. I already did the stupid test that got me this job. I'm not doing it again."

Jo stood next to the door of Allison's office, her arms crossed and brows furrowed. She had been handling an incident at an off-site GD lab when Fargo had called her back in. She was supposed to complete another test for the position in less than twenty minutes.

"You have to do this," Allison said, attempting to reason with Jo. "It will prove that you were the best choice for the job, and serve as the official end of the testing process."

"So, in other words, it'll make your screw-up look better when Mansfield hears about it," Jo snapped back.

"C'mon, Jo, you can do this. If Mansfield gave you the job early, you must have kicked all their asses in the other tests. You can do it again," Carter said, smiling at Jo.

"I shouldn't have to," Jo repeated. She looked angrily at Carter and demanded, "What the hell are you even doing here?"

"I called him," Allison said.

"Why?"

"Someone needed to handle the situation here. And since you weren't here-"

Jo shook her head. "I was doing my job, taking care of an incident off-site. I could have made it here just as fast as Carter. Where were you when you were supposed to be canceling the testing?"

Allison ignored the question and continued her attempts to needle Jo into testing. "That doesn't matter now. Testing is due to start soon, and you need to get suited up."

Jo looked between the three other people and shook her head. "Fine," she snarled, turning on her heel and stalking out the door.

* * *

Carter watched them stood next to Allison behind the glass window, watching the testing. Since it had started, he had realized exactly why the six men were so angry about Jo taking the position. All of the candidates were excellent, even compared to Jo. Half an hour in, she was still holding strong, but the men weren't far behind.

Carter put his hands on his hips and turned to Allison. "Disaster averted."

Allison nodded in agreement and smiled. "This is why I needed you for the emergency."

"Always happy to help," Carter replied, returning his gaze to the battling candidates and Friedrich, who was monitoring the candidates' progress on the other side of the glass.

As Allison stood silently, he shot her a sidelong glance. He lowered his voice and asked, "Hey, Allison, why didn't you cancel the testing?"

Allison glanced down and blushed. "Honestly, it never occurred to me. We had just gotten back and I didn't know what was happening at GD yet…and I was looking for a new nanny. Mine turned out to be a flake."

"Ah," Carter nodded, "okay."

"I mean, I know I should have," Allison said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "but I've had a hard time getting used to my old routine. When I was only the Medical Director, I worked less hours and I didn't have to worry about finding as reliable a nanny, because I was home more. But, as director-"

"You need to be here all the time," Carter finished for her, nodding.

Allison smiled weakly at him. "I really don't know what I'm going to do if I can't get a new nanny soon."

Carter wrapped an arm around her waist. "Don't worry about it. Everyone will help you out until you get a nanny. You'll get used to your schedule, and manage to spend time at Global, at home, and with me."

"Excuse me," Friedrich interrupted, pulling Carter and Allison away from their conversation, "but I think that we're just about done here."

Carter squeezed Allison's waist and stepped away from her. "And…"

Friedrich pulled his data pad out of his pocket and showed it to them. "As you can see from their statistics, all of the candidates would be excellent choices. They've all continued to perform above and beyond expectations for the position."

"So, who is it?" Allison asked impatiently.

"It's Lupo," Friedrich answered calmly. "She and Peters were both up there, but overall, her numbers were better."

"Yes! Ha! I knew she would get it," A voice cheered from the corner.

Carter and Allison didn't bother to turn around. They had both expected Zane to sneak in to watch the test. Friedrich did not.

"What are you doing in here? You're not authorized," Friedrich snapped at him.

"Relax, we all knew that Jo was going to get it anyway, especially since she technically already did," Zane said, grinning widely.

"Yes, well, this ruins the procedure," Friedrich muttered under his breath.

Allison shook her head. "We've decided on Jo, right?" She waited for Friedrich's nod before continuing, "So, she has the job. Now let's cancel the testing once and for all."

Friedrich nodded again and walked over to the intercom system. He picked up the microphone and spoke into it. "Attention, security candidates. We have made a decision. Lupo will be the new Chief of Security. Testing is now officially over."

He put the microphone back down and turned the intercom off. "There we go," he said, turning back to Allison and Carter. "If there's nothing else, I'm going to head back to my lab and further analyze the results and make sure that nothing was tampered with," Friedrich finished, shooting a dirty look at Zane in the corner.

"Thank you, Dr. Friedrich," Allison said gratefully, reaching out to shake his hand. "It's good to have the process over with and the position finalized."

"I don't think it's over just yet," Carter said, peering around Allison and Friedrich into the testing room.

The seven candidates seemed to be arguing amongst themselves, gesturing wildly toward the observation room. Jo seemed the calmest, with her arms crossed and her back to the room. Opposite her, Peters was playing nervously with a gun, twirling it haphazardly in the air.

Friedrich frowned and reached for the microphone again. "I repeat, all testing is over. Please clear the testing room."

At that, the six rejected men turned to the observation room and started shouting and pulling out guns, while Jo shook her head and walked to the exit.

"This is bad," Carter muttered, leaning forward to see better. Peters pulled out what looked like a miniature bazooka gun and began loading it. "This is really, really bad."

Jo pivoted and ran back toward Peters, tackling him. The others took that as a sign to shoot . Bullets flew at the observation room, bouncing off the glass.

"Don't worry," Friedrich said, tapping his data pad. "This window is nearly indestructible. It was re-designed after a previous test where a stray bullet nearly killed Mansfield."

"What about them," Zane said angrily, gesturing at the other side of the glass. "They're not exactly safe, are they."

"Not to worry," Friedrich replied, almost cheerily. "I also re-designed the procedure in case something like this ever happened."

"What are you talking about?" Carter snapped.

"This," Friedrich said simply, holding up his data pad. He entered a series of commands and showed it to them. "I included a powerful sedative in the injection that contained the tracking agent. I can have them all unconscious in a matter of seconds."

"That doesn't sound safe. Is it even legal?" Zane snorted.

"I thought you were the expert on matters of illegality, Donovan," Friedrich retorted.

"Hey, stop it," Carter said. "I'm with Zane on this one. I don't think that sedating them against their wills is going to help the situation much. We need to figure out something else."

"Do it," Allison said.

"What?" Carter and Zane asked incredulously.

"It's the best way to get them all out of there alive. Now do it."

Friedrich nodded and tapped the button.

One by one, each candidate dropped. Ten seconds later, the only one still standing was Peters. He stood alone, casting his gaze wildly around him as he breathed heavily. Twenty seconds later, he was still standing.

"What's taking it so long?" Allison asked.

Friedrich frowned. "There's something wrong. He should have been out by now."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Zane said, pointing at the glass.

Peters backed away from his unconscious competitors, still looking livid and confused, somewhat like a caged animals. As he backed himself into a corner, he slowly drew a grenade out of his pocket.

"I don't know what's wrong, it should have worked by now. Maybe if I-"

Friedrich was cut off by Carter, as the sheriff sprinted out of the observation area into the testing room, with Zane hot on his heels. A few seconds later, both men were in the testing room.

Peters looked up slowly and held up the grenade as he backed further into the corner.

"You have to stop this," Allison screamed at Friedrich, jerking his attention away from his data pad. "He's going to kill them."

Friedrich shrugged hopelessly. "There's nothing I can do. We're just going to have to wait and see what happens."

* * *

**Thanks for all the great reviews. They make my day, every time I look at one.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter. I hope this one helps.**

* * *

_Friedrich was cut off by Carter, as the sheriff sprinted out of the observation area into the testing room, with Zane hot on his heels. A few seconds later, both men were in the testing room._

_Peters looked up slowly and held up the grenade as he backed further into the corner._

_"You have to stop this," Allison screamed at Friedrich, jerking his attention away from his data pad. "He's going to kill them."_

_Friedrich shrugged hopelessly. "There's nothing I can do. We're just going to have to wait and see what happens."_

* * *

Zane sprinted after Carter through the door, ignoring Dr. Blake's vehement protests. A second later, he was through the door of the testing room and had caught up with Carter.

At the opposite side of the room, holding a grenade with trembling fingers as he backed further into the corner, was Peters. Zane squinted and saw that he was holding the grenade by the body, and seemed to be avoiding touching the safety pin.

Carter saw the same thing and decided that they would be safest talking Peters down. "Peters, I'm Sheriff Carter. I need you to put the grenade down and come with me."

"Why? What do want from me?" Peters shrieked. He took a step to the left, moving away from the corner, toward the unconscious forms of the other candidates.

Zane frowned and took a step toward the bodies, preventing Peters from getting near Jo. He'd watched all the videos from Peters' tests, and met him in passing a few times. He was usually calm and focused. Nothing at all like he was now.

"Nothing, Peters," Carter soothed, taking a small step closer the armed man. "I just need you to put the grenade down so we can talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about," Peters insisted, casting his eyes about wildly. "Don't get any closer."

Zane made eye contact with Carter, tilting his chin toward the unconscious candidates. Carter nodded back. He didn't know what the range of the grenade was, but Peters was getting much too close to everyone else.

"Stop it!" Peters shouted. "Stop talking to each other! You think that I don't know what you're talking about?"

"We're not talking about anything, Peters," Zane said slowly, moving further between Peters and the other candidates. "We just want you to put the grenade down."

Peters stared down at the grenade as if he were considering it. Carter nodded at Zane, who was now standing on the other side of Peters, less than twenty feet away.

Zane continued to silently advance on Peters as Carter did the same on the other side. Just as they were closing in on him, a low moan sounded from the group of unconscious people.

"Zane."

Zane's heart skipped a beat. Jo. She was waking up, which meant she was okay.

Peters heard her too. He stopped looking at the grenade and realized that Zane and Carter had closed in on him. "I told you not to get any closer!"

Zane's eyes widened as he saw what Peters was about to do. "Peters, no, wait."

Peters pulled the safety pin out of the grenade an tossed it in the air.

Carter and Zane locked eyes for a split second before they both dove out of the way. Carter ran towards the opposite end of the room while Zane scrambled to reach Jo, who was still lying on the floor under the observation window. The grenade went off less than a second later.

"What's going on?" Jo asked groggily, trying to sit up."

Zane pushed her back to the floor, covering his head with his arm to protect himself from the shrapnel. "Close your eyes," he instructed, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Carter! Zane!"

Zane waited another second to make sure that no more shrapnel was falling before raising his arm above his head to get a better look. Across the room, Allison was hugging Carter, clinging to him as if he were a loved one. Zane frowned. They had always had a thing for each other, but to his knowledge they had never dated. But judging from the way they were wrapped around each other, it looked like they might be.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

Zane looked back down at Jo, who didn't wait for an answer before opening her eyes. "What happened?"

"A small grenade went off," Zane said, smiling softly. He pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. The way she was looking at him reminded him of how she used to look at him whenever he woke her up from a deep sleep.

"Wait, what?" Jo demanded, shoving Zane's hand off her face and sitting up.

Zane smiled. That was the same too.

"It doesn't look like anyone was injured," Allison called from the from a few feet away, taking the pulses of the still-unconscious candidates. "The grenade was designed to sting, not kill. There's a medical team on its way up just in case."

Zane nodded and stood up, then reached down and pulled Jo to her feet. She swayed slightly against him, but kept her feet planted firmly on the ground.

"What happened exactly?" Jo asked.

"Peters got a little insane during the test," Carter explained. "Things started getting violent, so Friedrich knocked you out. For some reason it didn't work on Peters, though, and he threw a grenade at the ceiling."

"Where is Peters now?"

Carter looked around, dumbfounded. "I have no idea," he admitted. "When he threw the grenade , I got out of the way as quickly as possible. He must have escaped."

"So there's a highly armed and insane man running around the building," Allison groaned, waving the medical team in. "Security will keep him inside, but we need to get to him before he runs into someone else."

Dr. Friedrich picked his way around the activity and pulled out his data pad. "I think I can help with that. The tracking agents are linked to the computer in my lab, which is also linked a blueprint of GD. I should be able to program it so that we can track his position in the building."

Zane nodded, still holding onto Jo's waist. "That sounds doable."

"Alright," Allison replied, nodding to him. "Zane, you go program the tracking agent and help Carter find Peters."

"With all due respect, Dr. Blake, I don't want him messing around in my lab," Friedrich said. "I don't trust him, and I don't want him to taint any of my research."

Allison glared at him. "I need you to get to work and find out why the sedative didn't work on Peters. Now."

Friedrich nodded, tossed a glare at Zane, and left the testing room.

As a medical officer approached Jo, Zane suddenly realized that he was still holding onto her, and let go. "We should get to work then," he said, taking a step away from Jo.

Carter nodded and Zane followed him out of the lab, willing himself not to look back at Jo.

* * *

Friedrich had been right; programming the tracking agent to pinpoint Peters' location in the building had been easy. It had barely taken Zane five minutes. Luckily, Peters seemed to be avoiding contact with other people as he made his way to the basement.

"So, you and Allison," Zane said slyly to Carter as they strode toward the only elevator that went to the basement. "How long has that been going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Carter said stiffly, not looking at Zane. He didn't want this Zane to figure anything out about the time travel, and the smallest detail could help him do so.

"I saw you two earlier."

"So?"

"So," Zane said, "people who don't like each other don't hug like that."

"What about you and Jo?" Carter shot back. "You were holding on to her pretty tightly."

Zane shrugged as he stepped into the elevator. "I dated her for over two years. I have an excuse. What's yours?"

Carter sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I like Allison. A lot. For a while now, I guess. Technically we've only been together for a few weeks though."

"I can't believe it took you two that long," Zane snorted. Carter glared at him. Zane grinned back. "You two are good together. And her kids like you."

"Yeah," Carter said, smiling softly. "You and Jo were good together, too."

Zane stopped smiling. "I know. By the way, you never answered my question earlier. What happened with her?"

Carter shoved his hands in his pockets. "I think it was just one of those things, you know," he said slowly. "She went a little kooky for awhile. It happens sometimes."

"I guess," Zane shrugged, walking out of the elevator. "But for a whole month? And right after I proposed?"

Carter stepped out and turned to face him. "Look, honestly, I think you should give her another chance. The idea of marriage may have spooked her, but that doesn't change her feelings for you. I know the break-up was pretty awful for you, but trust me, it was hell for Jo too. And you said that you think she's changed back. You know her, and if your still love her, you should give it another shot."

"Okay," Zane said slowly. "Thanks. But if she shoots me down, figuratively or literally, I'm blaming you."

"Understood," Carter said, trying not to sound happy. This was a record for him. He was in a stable relationship, and had helped two of his friends with their relationships in the same day.

"Shhh," Zane said quietly. "Do you hear that?"

Carter stopped and listened. There were low hums and throbs coming from machinery every corner, but in the distance, he thought he could pick out the distinct sound of heavy breathing in the distance. "Peters."

Zane nodded, and silently walked toward the noise. Around the corner was Peters, sitting on the floor with a gun in his hands, hyperventilating.

Carter threw his hand out to stop Zane from advancing any further. "Let's not spook him again. I'm going to stun him instead."

Carter pulled his stun gun out of his belt and took careful aim around the corner.

"Please don't hurt me," Peters pleaded softly. "Please."

"Don't worry, Big Guy," Carter soothed. "It's going to hurt a little now, but then we'll take you back to the infirmary and get you feeling better, okay." He squeezed the trigger without waiting to hear Peters' response.

"Is he out?"

Carter stuck his head around the corner. "Yep. Call the medical team down."

Zane nodded. "And hopefully Friedrich's figured out how to fix this."

* * *

"I don't know what happened," Friedrich admitting, shifting his weight nervously. "The sedative worked perfectly in all the other candidates. Peters' was definitely triggered, but it had no affect on him."

"Not really," Carter pointed out. "Jo woke up way before everyone else."

"Well, that's fine for now, she's fine and we've got Peters under a different sedative," Allison said, nodding to the bed in the corner that held Peters. "But what happened earlier was serious. It's a miracle that no one was seriously hurt. We need to figure this out."

Friedrich nodded in response.

"Good," Allison replied. "I want you to give Fargo and Zane access to the previous testing records. There might be something in there that we can use. No buts."

Friedrich nodded. "I'll go get started."

Once Friedrich left, Allison relaxed visibly. "I still can't believe no one got hurt."

"Yeah, we got pretty lucky," Carter agreed, swinging an arm around her waist. "But, since everyone's alright, I think you should head out early. You need to de-stress. Go home, watch some TV, maybe work on finding a sitter. I'll swing by with dinner for you and the kids later."

"Thanks," Allison smiled, kissing his cheek. "I'll see you later."

* * *

Zane slowly picked his way through the infirmary to Jo's bed. He rubbed his arm nervously. Maybe this wasn't the best idea, but he had to do it after the way she had looked at him earlier. Like she didn't hate him…like she needed him.

"Hey," he said softly, sitting down next to her bed. "How're you feeling?"

Jo shifted in the bed and turned to face him. "I'm fine. Just kind of exhausted. Allison said it was probably lingering effects of the sedative. I should be okay to leave soon, though."

"Good," Zane replied, fidgeting in his seat. "Hey, Jo…"

"What?"

Zane shifted again. "I know things between us haven't been great for the last month and that you still kind of hate me, but do you want to get some dinner later? Maybe we could just forget the last month ever happened and start it over again."

To his relief, Jo didn't scream at him or try to break his arm. Instead, she smiled and spoke softly while tears welled up in her eyes. "I would really love that. You have no idea how much."

* * *

**So it looks like Jo and Zane are on the road to recovery. I've planned out the next chapter, but I'm not sure when it will be up.**

**As usual, thanks for all the amazing reviews. You guys are great.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't like this chapter very much, but I couldn't figure out how to make it better. If you have any suggestion or comments, leave them in a review.**

* * *

Jo sat at a small table in Café Diem, sipping her coffee and trying not to over-analyze her day. It had been completely bizarre. Because Allison had forgotten to cancel the testing, she had been forced to compete for the job she had already gotten with six other applicants. After she had won, one of them, Peters, had lost it and pulled out a grenade. Everything after that went black. The next thing she remembered was Zane clearing hair out of her face and being forcefully escorted to the infirmary. An hour later, Zane came to see her. He asked her to go for dinner with him, despite the fact that the other Jo had been a bitch to him for the last month.

"You look deep in thought."

Jo looked up and smiled at Carter. "Yeah."

"So," Carter grinned at her, sitting down across the table, "what're you doing here?"

Jo's smile widened. "I'm meeting Zane," she confessed excitedly. "He asked me to get dinner with him while I was in the infirmary."

"Really? That's great!" Carter exclaimed, trying to sound surprised.

Jo shook her head at him. "He already told me that it was your idea, so you can drop the act." Her tone softened slightly as she continued, "But, thank you."

"It was my pleasure."

Carter watched Jo take another few sips of coffee in silence before continuing. "So…how are you?"

"Terrified," Jo confessed. "This is my one shot to make things with Zane right."

"Well, I think you'll do fine," Carter said, reaching across the table and squeezing one of her hands. "After all," he continued, nodding to the other side of the café, where Grace and Henry were still seated, deep in conversation, "it looks like my match making is going pretty well today."

"Hey, Carter. Mind if I sit down?" Zane asked, approaching the table laden with plates of food.

"Sure. She's all yours," Carter beamed at Zane, getting up and backing away from the table.

"Sheriff, your food is ready," Vincent called from behind the counter.

"Thanks, Vincent," Carter replied. He struggled for a minute to balance the heavy boxes before successfully carrying them out to his car. As he drove off, Carter breathed deeply and let the smell of Vincent's cooking wash over him. Allison and her kids were going to love this.

* * *

Zane sat silently, watching Jo from across the table. He had been hoping that they would resolve their issues from the last month over dinner. But since Carter had left, Jo had hardly said a word to him.

"Are you okay?" He asked nervously. Tonight was probably his only chance to make things right with Jo, and he wanted to take advantage of it.

Jo shook her head slightly."Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little fuzzy from earlier."

Zane frowned. "How do you feel?"

"Tired and nauseous and a little dizzy," Jo admitted, shrugging slightly.

"The sedative from earlier probably hasn't worn off yet. Friedrich used some pretty nasty compounds. Let's get you home," Zane said, standing up and offering Jo his hand.

"Are you sure? We haven't really eaten yet." Jo protested.

"I'm sure," Zane confirmed, pulling her up. "If the universe wants us to get back together, it'll happen, even if we have to wait until tomorrow."

Jo smiled gratefully and slipped a hand in Zane's as they walked out of Café Diem. "Or, maybe, this is it's way of saying that we already are."

* * *

"That was delicious. Remind me to thank Vincent," Allison said, stretching and leaning back in her chair.

Carter grinned. "Well, you know him, the more people he has to feed the happier he is. And the better his apple pies are."

Allison nodded in agreement. "Definitely. Would you mind clearing up while I put Jenna to bed?"

"Not at all," Carter replied, his smile broadening.

"Thanks," Allison called as she disappeared up the stairs.

Carter pushed his chair away from the table and loading plates into the dishwasher. Kevin sat at the table, watching him silently.

"Hey, Kevin, can you pass me that plate?" Carter asked from the sink.

Carter turned around when Kevin didn't respond. He noticed that the boy's gaze had shifted to the refrigerator. "Kevin?"

Kevin began laughing hysterically. Carter stared at him, dumfounded. "Kevin?"

"Sorry, man," Kevin choked out, still laughing.

"What?"

Kevin passed the plate to Carter and stopped laughing. "I said sorry. For freaking you out. You looked like another escaped robot was about to destroy GD."

"You- you- you're talking. To me," Carter stammered.

Kevin squinted at him. "I am. Only because of the look on your face. Please don't tell my mom. It'll ruin my project."

"Wait, what?"

"It's a project for my Psych class," Kevin explained, carrying the remaining dishes to the sink. "I'm experimenting with non-vocal forms of communication and its effects. If my mom finds out, it'll ruin my research."

"Um…." Carter began.

"I need to get out of here before I crack up again," Kevin said, cutting Carter off. "Tell her I went to Sam's house. I'll be back in an hour."

"Wait…"

Kevin ignored Carter and jogged out the door. Carter stood next to the sink, trying to understand what had just happened. Kevin was acting like the other Kevin, but with said he was doing research. It made no sense.

Carter shut the dishwasher and ran up the stairs to find Allison. "Hey-"

"Shhh. I'm trying to get Jenna to go to sleep," Allison scolded from inside the nursery.

"Sorry," Carter whispered, stepping in next to her. "But I really need to talk to you-about Kevin."

"What about him?"

"He's different. Again."

"What are you talking about?" Allison hissed.

Carter scratched his head and tried to figure out how to explain what had just happened without sounding like he had lost his mind.

"Okay," he began slowly. "When we got back, Kevin was acting like his original self. But he was just in the kitchen with me, talking like he did in the other timeline. He said that he's avoiding talking for an experiment. The goal is to see your reactions to his lack of communication or something."

"Is this a joke?" Allison hissed, turning to glare at Carter. "I've watched him for the last week. He barely talks to me."

"No, no, it's not a joke," Carter said earnestly. "He lost his concentration and started laughing. Then he explained it to me and asked me not to tell you so he could continue his project."

"Why would he do that?" Allison asked.

"I don't know," Carter replied quietly, putting an arm around her shoulders. "I don't think he meant to hurt you. He's doing it for school."

"But I'm his mother," Allison protested, letting a few tears fall from her eyes. "Why didn't I notice that something was off?"

"Look, Allison, he's good. I mean really good. I nearly had a heart attack when he started talking to me."

"But-"

Allison was cut off by Carter's phone. The sudden ringing woke Jenna, who began to wail.

Carter fought the urge to hit 'ignore'. As important as this was to Allison, he was the Sheriff, and had to answer all of the emergency calls.

"Sorry," he whispered to Allison, leaving her in nursery with Jenna as he slipped into the hallway. "Sheriff Carter here."

"_Carter? It's Henry. You need to get to Jo's house right now_. _Bring Allison, too_."

"Why? There's something kind of important going on here."

"_I think we're seeing

* * *

an example of another convergence_."

"Here, too," Carter said, frustrated. "Can this wait a few minutes?"

"_No. My convergence is on fire_."

"Alright," Carter sighed. "I'm on my way."

He closed his phone and leaned against the doorframe. "Henry says that we need to get to Jo's house. Apparently there's been a fiery convergence."

Allison nodded. " Kevin can watch Jenna while we're gone."

Carter shook his head. "As soon as Kevin spilled his secret, he took off to a friend's house. He said he'd be back in an hour, but we can't wait that long."

"Fine," Allison said, scooping up Jenna with one hand and a diaper bag with the other. "We'll leave her with Vincent. He'll love that."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Carter was halfway to Jo's house. He marveled at Allison's efficiency. After he had talked to Henry, she had been ready to leave in less than two minutes. And she had been right about Vincent-he had jumped at the opportunity to watch Jenna.

Still, Carter got the feeling that part of Allison's efficiency came from avoidance. They had left her house so quickly that they hadn't had time to pick up their discussion, and Allison insisted that they take separate cars.

Carter frowned to himself. He understood why Allison was upset, but wasn't sure what to do about it. He would have to sit down with Kevin and convince him to give up the experiment.

As he rounded the corner to Jo's neighborhood, Carter hit the brakes. Henry was right. He really did need to be there.

Jo's house was on fire. Not burning, like a normal house fire, but seemingly combusting slowly, one spot at a time.

Carter scrambled out of his car and ran towards the house, almost getting hit by an ambulance that was speeding away. "Jo? Jo?"

"She's over here, Sheriff."

Carter changed directions and sprinted over to Henry's fire truck. In back, sitting with one arm around Jo, was Grace.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Carter spat out, trying to stay calm.

"She's fine. A few minor cuts and bruises, but nothing serious," Grace assured him. She looked back down at Jo, who hadn't looked at Carter yet. "Let me get you something to drink, Sweetheart."

Carter peered down at Jo, who was wrapped in a blanket and letting an EMT examine her arm. She didn't look hurt, but she didn't look like herself, either.

"What happened?" Carter asked again.

"Larry," Zane growled from a few feet away.

Carter turned to him. "What?"

Zane shook his head. "I drove Jo home because she wasn't feeling well. I was heading back out to the main road when a car came tearing down the other side of the road. I turned around and followed it. When it turned onto Jo's street, it didn't slow down. Instead, it sped up, and drove straight into her house."

Carter looked back at Jo's house, and noticed that there was a gaping hole next to the front door.

"By the time I got out of my car, Jo was already dragging him out," Zane continued. "The medical team just took Larry back to GD."

"Is he injured?"

Zane shrugged. "He didn't look good, but it's hard to say. Are you done yet?"

"No. Stay put."

Carter turned to the source of the voice-the man who was examining Jo's arm. "Why can't he move?"

The man snorted. "Untrained civilians get in the way with emergency medical procedures. I'm not going to let anything happen to her because someone stopped me from doing my job."

Grace reappeared carrying a thermos and handed it to Jo. "You need to drink something."

Carter nodded to himself and stepped away and made his way around the truck. Grace seemed to have things under control. Jo was responding to her, even though she hadn't made eye contact with Carter.

"Jack," Henry called from the other end of the truck, waving Carter over. He shut off the hose. "We have to talk."

"Yeah," Carter said, helping Henry hang up the hose. "Where's Allison?"

"She was redirected to GD," Henry answered. "She's going to lead the surgery on Larry. That's part of what we need to talk about."

"Okay," Carter nodded.

Henry ushered Carter further away from the truck. "This convergence was very dangerous. Jo and Larry both could have been killed instantly. Larry still might not make it."

"What caused it?" Carter asked.

"I think it stemmed from the rocket race," Henry said. "The two universes are fighting over Jo's house. In one, it was fine. In the other, Larry accidentally destroyed it with a rocket."

"So now, it set on fire by a speeding car," Carter said, nodding.

"Exactly," Henry nodded. "Though I'm not sure if it's a convergence or if the other timeline won. Jo can't live here. The damage is too severe."

Carter examined the house for the first time since Henry had finished putting out the fire. Henry was right. Again. There was no way anyone could live there.

"Great. I'm sure Jo will love living with me again."

"That's not the biggest issue right now," Henry pressed. "This was dangerous. Next time, someone could be killed."

"Well, it's not like we can do anything about the universe ripping itself apart," Carter pointed out.

Henry sighed. "Maybe not. But we can try. Fargo's at my garage right now, working on a timeline of all the events since Founder's Day. We're going to map out what happened in the other timeline, and try to find out what happened here. If we can get enough information, we may be able to figure out what kind of convergence is coming next, and what it should affect."

Carter nodded. "That's a good idea. Hopefully we'll be able to get out in front of this."

As they slowly walked back toward the small crowd at the back of the truck, Carter remembered something. "Hey, Henry. I think one of the natural convergences already happened. Kevin's a normal teenager. He's just pretending not to be for a class project."

"Huh," Henry replied. "Well, hopefully that'll be the end of the changes for him."

"Yeah," Carter agreed. "I don't think Allison could take it if it's not."

Carter watched quietly as the EMT finished examining Jo and drove away, leaving him with Jo, Zane, Grace, and Henry. No one moved until Carter broke the silence.

"Well, we should all get home."

Grace shot Carter a look. He hastily corrected himself. "Except Jo. The rest of us should all go back to our homes."

"That sounds like a good idea," Henry said. "We'll check on Larry in the morning. Grace, do you want me to drive you home or back to your car?"

"Home," Grace answered, stepping out of the back of the fire engine. Jo jumped down after her. "I'm too wired to drive now, anyway."

"You drove her here in the fire truck?" Carter demanded incredulously.

Grace chuckled and nodded. "Yep. It was an interesting way to end a first date."

Carter resisted the urge to smile back at Henry, who was grinning gleefully at Grace's phrasing.

"So, Jo, are you ready?" Carter asked.

Jo looked down. "I think I'm going to go with Zane," she said quietly.

Carter and Zane both raised their eyebrows. "What?"

Jo shrugged. "You offered earlier. Unless you changed your mind..."

"No, definitely not," Zane said quickly. "I just didn't expect you to say yes."

"Neither did I," Carter muttered. In one day, the two couples he had set up had jumped from a first date to a full-on relationship. Still, if it made them happy, who was he to complain.

"Alright," Carter nodded, walking Jo to Zane's car. "Get some rest tonight. You look exhausted."

Jo nodded and buckled her seatbelt. Carter turned his attention to Zane. "Take care of her."

"I will," Zane nodded. He looked over at Jo, who was already asleep. "Thanks, Carter."

Carter nodded and waved as Zane pulled onto the main road. He lowered his hand and turned to take in Jo's house again. Carter was starting to worry. Between the incident with Peters at GD, the change in Kevin, and Jo's house, it looked like the battle between the two universes was getting violent. Even if Henry was right, and they could anticipate the next incident, at this rate they wouldn't be able to stop it before someone was killed.


	12. Chapter 12

**It's been a couple of months since I updated this story. Even though I have it planned out, I haven't been inspired to actually write anything. Hopefully I'll update more regularly from now on.**

* * *

Allison walked into Henry's garage and collapsed onto one of the workbenches. "Sorry I'm late."

"No problem," Henry replied. "We were stuck, anyway."

"What do you have so far?" Allison asked, rubbing her eyes.

Carter unrolled a piece of paper and set it down on the table. "Okay, so last night, May second , Larry crashed his car into Jo's house. In the other timeline, on the same day, he blew her house up with a rocket."

"By the way, how is Larry?" Henry cut in.

Allison sighed. "It was hard to say for awhile, but it looks like he's going to make a full recovery."

"That fits," Fargo nodded. "Both accidents could easily have killed both Jo and Larry. This time, they were both closer to where the accident occurred, and only one of them was seriously hurt."

"A convergence," Allison said, nodding.

"Right," Henry said. "So, we know a little of what to expect. Claudia should be visiting from the Warehouse within the next week. Then, probably in the next month, Kevin's project should wreak havoc, and Zoe should come back from Harvard. Since we can anticipate some of what's going to happen, we should be able to lessen the severity of most of these things."

"Ah, right, about that," Carter said uncomfortably, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I was thinking of another way to do that."

"Yes?"

"Well…what if we told a few people?"

"What?" Fargo screamed shrilly. "Do you want to get us all sanctioned?"

"No, Fargo, of course not," Carter scolded. "Cut it out."

"He's right, Jack," Allison said. "That's insanely dangerous."

"I know, I know," Carter said, leaning against the table. "But think of what we could avoid if we just told a few key people. Grace, Zane, Zoe and Kevin."

"No," Allison said immediately. "Telling Kevin is a bad idea. And telling Zoe is just as bad."

"But-"

"She's right, Jack," Henry said. "It's going to be hard for them to handle the information, let alone resist the urge to tell anyone."

"Zane's not much better either," Fargo pointed out. "Who knows what he'll do once he knows."

"Okay, okay," Carter replied quickly. After talking to Zane about Jo, he seriously doubted that the other man would expose them, but he wasn't the only one keeping the secret."We'll keep it between the five of us for now."

"Where is Jo, anyway?" Allison asked irritably.

Carter rubbed the back of the neck. "Erm…She's kind of with Zane."

"What?"

Carter crossed his arms defensively. "After Henry and Grace left the fire, Jo went home with Zane."

"This is bad. This is very, very bad," Fargo moaned.

"We don't know that," Carter protested. He glanced over to Henry and Allison for support, only to find them shaking their heads. "Oh c'mon. This is _our _Zane. We know him. He wouldn't do that."

"We used to know him," Allison corrected. "A lot can happen in a month."

* * *

Jo rolled over and snuggled deeper under the covers. The blanket was soft and warm and smelled like Zane.

Zane.

Jo's eyes flew open. Zane. Why did everything smell like Zane? The last thing that she remembered was seeing her house on fire. The rest of the night had been a blur of worried faces and smoke. Then, at the very end, she vaguely recalled sitting in Zane's car. But after that, there was nothing.

"Morning, Jojo."

Jo turned over and squinted against the harsh sunlight. Sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling at her, was Zane.

"I-" She stammered.

Zane stood up and shut the blinds, blocking the sunlight. "You should go back to sleep. Last night was pretty rough."

Jo shook her head and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Once she refocused, she instantly realized that she was in Zane's apartment.

"Why are we here?"

Zane sat down next to her and sighed. "Well, I couldn't exactly take you to your house."

Jo nodded and leaned back on the pillow. "Yeah, I remember. What I meant was…why did you bring me here? Especially after what you said at my house."

"It just felt right," Zane shrugged. He scooted closer to Jo and laid his head down next to hers. "I dunno…I mean, you've been acting so…different for the last month. It was like you were a different person. But lately, you've been like your old self again."

"I was that different?" Jo asked. She kept her eyes trained on the ceiling, almost afraid to hear what he would say next.

Zane nodded. "Yeah. It was like someone else had taken over. You weren't the Jo I knew and loved. Love."

Jo rolled over to face him. "Love or loved?"

"Love. You've been back for a little while, but after Café Diem last night I could feel that it was really you."

Jo glanced at him, then dropped her gaze to the bed as a single tear trickled out of the corner of her eye. Zane reached over and wiped it away. "What's wrong?"

Jo looked back up at him and bit her lip. She had to tell him. It would be wrong not to. "Zane, I love you. More than anything else. But there's something you need to know about what happened last month…"

* * *

Carter sighed as he dialed Jo's number for the fourth time. "She's not picking up," he said.

"She needs to know about this," Henry insisted. "Being able to map out the future could mean the difference between remaining undiscovered and being sanctioned."

"I know, I know," Carter replied, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "But Zane's not picking up either. I called Vincent, too, and he hasn't seen her since last night."

"Great," Allison groaned, stretching and standing up. "I have to get back to GD and check on Larry."

"Yeah, I should get back to the office too," Carter said.

Fargo nodded. "Okay, I'll keep working on this with Henr-"

Fargo stopped abruptly as three phones began ringing at the same time. As he fumbled for his, Allison and Carter picked up theirs.

"This is Director Blake."

"Sheriff Carter."

Fargo watched as their faces simultaneously paled while their voices became panicked.

"I'm on my way," Carter said, shutting his phone. He turned back to Henry and Fargo and shook his head slowly. "We've got something new to worry about. Two of the testing candidates disappeared last night. No one has seen them since then."


End file.
